


Little Monster

by TheDeadGirlRisen



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Dad!Daichi, Family!Volleyball Club, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, MotherHen!Kuroo, Training, mom!suga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 35,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23083813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDeadGirlRisen/pseuds/TheDeadGirlRisen
Summary: “The kids are calling me a monster,” He stated spinning a volleyball in his hands.“Oh? Does this bother you?”Shouyou frowned as he thought about it, “No?” He finally replied in a confused voice. “It’s just a word, right? So I shouldn’t let it bother me.”Satori nodded, “If it does bother you though just let me know.”He gave a slow nod before he threw the ball towards Satori. The two passed the ball back and forth for a little bit. Shouyou caught the ball and said, “I think I liked it.”“Oh?”Shouyou gave a slow nod, “They called me the demon’s monster.”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In which Shouyou's friendship with Satori ends up changing a lot of things. Yet, the more things change the more they stay the same.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou & Karasuno Volleyball Club, Hinata Shouyou & Kozume Kenma, Hinata Shouyou & Kuroo Tetsurou, Hinata Shouyou & Oikawa Tooru, Hinata Shouyou & Tendou Satori
Comments: 374
Kudos: 721
Collections: Haikyuu!!, Sodium's favourites





	1. A Demon for a Friend

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Маленький монстр](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25611508) by [Zlik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zlik/pseuds/Zlik)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work has been translated into Russian, it is available on Ao3 and Ficbook. https://archiveofourown.org/works/25611508  
> https://ficbook.net/readfic/9566284

“You’re such an idiot!” a kid shouted at him, one of his new bullies.

He didn’t know their names, not yet anyways. Eventually he would learn them, that is if he didn’t end up moving again, but his father had promised it was the last time. That from now on he would just fly out and rent an apartment while he was gone.

So he was at a new school, with new people, new kids who he didn’t know. Yet, he was already labeled as the ‘idiot’ kid. And it had only been a week and a half. Just because it took him longer to understand stuff, didn’t mean he was dumb.

“Dummy. Dummy!” They taunted him.

“I’m not an idiot!” Shouyou protested, hands clenching into a fist as he heard the familiar words.

“Just like you’re not short,” The main speaker replied and the others laughed.

“Just you wait! I’ll be taller than all of you!” He replied, scowling.

He watched warily as the main kid walked closer to him, but he didn’t back away. He kept his eyes on the boy. He knew what the boy was going to do, but he also knew that trying to run would just make the bully keep targeting him. The boy, who was in his year stood only a few inches taller than him, honestly Shouyou wasn’t too much shorter than the other kid. The kid scowled at him glaring as he raised his hand.

Shouyou moved his own arms to block, but stopped as he saw another kid moving to defend him.

A kid he had never seen before today, he had red hair in a bowl cut and was taller than him by half a foot. “Hey~! What are you doing?” The kid asked, stepping in front of Shouyou. His head was tilted to the side, but Shouyou could not see his face. 

“It’s the monster!” One of the girls screamed instantly fleeing. The other kids shuffled backwards. Shouyou looked around the mysterious kid to see that the main leader had seemingly become paralyzed in fear.

“Run far away~” The red haired kid sanged out a small grin coming across his face. 

The main kid did. The other’s seeing their leader fleeing choose to run away.

“Who are you?” Shouyou asked as the red haired kid turned towards him.

“Tendou, Satori, and you?” The boy asked his eyes wide as he stared down at Shouyou.

“Hinata, Shouyou,” he responded.

“Nice to meet you, do you play volleyball?” Tendou asked suddenly.

Shouyou shook his head, “Only tall people are allowed to play volleyball.”

“Anyone can play, come on, I need someone to play with anyways,” Tendou said grabbing his arm and dragging him off.

It was the start of their friendship.

* * *

What started as a simple activity quickly became something he looked forward to, it was where he could spend the most time with Tendou after all. The only other time he saw the older boy was at lunch.

The older boy always seemed to bring him something interesting, whether a new beverage he had never drinked, or american candy. He asked Tendou where he got the stuff from once and his friend had grinned and explained that his parents always brought him stuff whenever they came back.

Shouyou loved trying the new items, though some were truly horrible. Tendou was also good at finding him as soon as school ended, keeping the bullies away. Soon enough the bullies started leaving him alone, with mutters about how someone could be friends with the ‘demon’. He hated hearing them call Tendou that.

“Why?” Tendou asked him tilting his head and staring at him with his wide eyes. 

“Because you’re not a demon,” Shouyou replied staring up at his friend.

“I don’t mind.”

“You don’t?” Shouyou questioned a frown crossing his face, not understanding why Tendou was not upset.

“Why should I? It’s just a word and it’s not true. So why should I let it bother me?”

Shouyou hummed in response as he thought over the answer, “I suppose that makes sense Tendou-senpai.”

Tendou pouted, “How many times do I have to remind you to call me Satori.”

“Sorry!” Shouyou responded ducking his head down.

* * *

When he was first called a monster he didn’t know what to think. Didn’t know what to feel. So he ignored the students, ignored the whispers of him being the demon’s monster. At least until he met up with Satori.

“The kids are calling me a monster,” He stated spinning a volleyball in his hands.

“Oh? Does this bother you?”

Shouyou frowned as he thought about it, “No?” He finally replied in a confused voice. “It’s just a word, right? So I shouldn’t let it bother me.”

Satori nodded, “If it does bother you though just let me know.”

He gave a slow nod before he threw the ball towards Satori. The two passed the ball back and forth for a little bit. Shouyou caught the ball and said, “I think I liked it.”

“Oh?”

Shouyou gave a slow nod, “They called me the demon’s monster.”

With a grin that frightened everyone but Shouyou, Satori reached over and ruffled Shouyou’s hair. 

Shouyou gave a smile back.

Satori may be a demon, but that was okay because Shouyou could be his monster.

* * *

The kids started to stay away from him, even more than before, but Shouyou didn’t mind. He didn’t need them, he had Satori. He spent most of his free time with the older boy and they practiced volleyball, usually having to find a middle school to go visit and play with because their elementary school didn’t have a volleyball club. The middle school’s were pretty accommodating for them, letting them join their practices.

Well some of them were, the more serious middle schools never let them join in. Shouyou and Satori both practiced blocking, and soon learned that the way they blocked was called guess blocking.

A lot of the coaches at the middle schools told them to do read blocking instead. Satori refused them, saying that guess blocking was more fun.

Still even with all that the two were usually able to practice with middle schools once or twice a month. Most of the time they just practiced with the two of them.

* * *

Shouyou knew it would happen eventually, but it still seemed too soon, that the school year was coming to an end and Satori would be graduating to middle school. He was a sobbing wreck, the only consolation he got was when Satori promised he would still come visit him.

The next two years passed with periods of slowness and fastness. When he was able to spend time with Satori the time seemed to speed by. When Satori wasn’t around it dragged on and on.

He never did make another friend. The other kids were too scared of him, thinking of him as a monster. It hurt, a little bit, but he could ignore it because Satori was his friend.

Finally though he would be able to join middle school and see Satori more often.

It was only after he talked with his mom that he realized he wasn’t going to the same middle school as Satori. That because of the way the districts were located they went to separate middle schools.

They still managed to visit each other.

* * *

It was his first year of Yukigaoka Junior High and he made a couple of friends, Koji, who was a member of the soccer team, and Izumi, who was part of the basketball team. They stuck by him despite a few of his old year mates calling him a monster. He had also decided he wanted to become a spiker after he saw a showing of the little giant on tv.

It had been amazing seeing how high the kid jumped, seeing him spike the ball down. Seeing his teammates congratulate him.

Satori helped him practice, when no one else would practice with him Satori would.

He learned how to jump, how to hit the ball down.

At the end of the year he learned that Satori would be going to Shiratorizawa. 

“You know, people wouldn’t be so scared of you if you smiled more,” Izumi commented as he reluctantly helped Shouyou.

“Eh?” He questioned tilting his head.

“You look scary, that’s why the other kids stay away from you. If you smile more though then they won’t be scared of you.”

“Why should I care if they are scared of me?”

“Someone might actually join the volleyball club if you didn’t seem so scary.”

“I see.”

* * *

It took him a while to get used to smiling in a non scary way. He didn’t really see any effect until he went to his second year and the new first years came in. They were happy to chat with him and be friendly with him.

It was interesting the effect one’s facial expressions could have on those around them and it was fun watching people react.

* * *

One year later and his school finally had enough members to enter the Junior High Athletics Meet. At least he was with the help of Koji and Izumi. He entered in spelling the scent of air salonpas. His first time being on the court.

He was excited.

He was nervous.

Satori made it seem so easy. Yet, actually standing on the court for the first time was nerve wracking. Still he had the three first years so he turned to them grinning, “Alright let’s win this thing!”

“You’re thinking of winning this?”

“Of course!”

He couldn’t afford thoughts on losing. A sudden hush fell through the hall and Shouyou looked over to where everyone else was staring. Their first opponents, apparently the favorite for championship and had ‘The King of the Court’ with them.

“Eyyy! Shouyou!” Satori rushed over waving at him.

“Satori, what are you doing here?” He questioned his friend, surprised.

“I decided to come visit my precious kohai! Give it all you got!”

Shouyou nodded a large grin coming across his face.

Satori stepped closer and ruffled his hair, then he turned and trotted off singing in a taunting fashion, “Go and break them and shatter them and watch them despair~”

Shouyou grinned, ignoring the frightened looks of the first years, “You heard Satori-Senpai! Let’s crush our opponents!”

Koji sweatdropped, “Your friend is scary.”

Shouyou tilted his head staring at his friend who twitched slightly, “I see where you got it from now.”

Soon enough it was time for the first match. He gave a sharp grin as he stared at his opponents, he would win this even if he had to score all the points himself. He would block them and spike points.

The match started and soon enough he was in a fray of watching and jumping and running.

Their points slowly crawled up point by point. But, for every point Shouyou managed to earn his team, whether by blocking or spiking, it seemed that his opponents managed to score two more.

They were unraveling though, especially that ‘king’ who was shouting at his teammates more and more. Shouyou tilted his head slightly, staring intensely at them, knowing from his friends that this expression was one of his creepiests.

“M-monster,” One of his opponents whispered out.

That word was like music, it was as if he could hear a rip coming from his opponents as they stared at him. He turned to his team, “We can do this!”

It was the second set, they might have lost the first match 25-13, but they could still take this second set.

5-1

8-5

13-8

18-12

22-17

25-20

Shouyou clenched his fist, they had lost.

He went to go line up but was startled by the opposing setter clenching the net and yelling at him, “What have you been doing for 3 years?!”

Shouyou tilted his head turning back to meet the eyes of the ‘king.’ “Training,” he replied with a smile, before walking off to line up with his team.

* * *

He vowed he would get stronger, that next time he would be able to beat the ‘king’ whose name was apparently Kageyama Tobio. He studied for high school, and despite how much he wanted to join his friend at Shiratorizawa he knew he shouldn’t. 

Satori told him how much Shiratorizawa’s coach valued height and power. Shouyou would not be tall enough for them. So he decided to go for Karasuno, the school that had once housed his inspiration, the little giant.

3 months passed in a flash and soon he was standing outside the doors to gymnasium two. He was going to train hard and become stronger, he would eventually face off against Satori and beat his senpai, and he would also defeat that Kageyama for the defeat. He took a deep breath and prepared to enter the gym.

But, he didn’t enter alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: The start of a brand new journey. Mostly because this idea would not leave me alone. And there was a hole in this fandom that needed filling. I hope you guys enjoy!  
> Word Count: 2,146  
> Date Written: 3/5/20 -3/9/20  
> Date Posted: 3/9/20


	2. The Freak Quick

“What are you doing here?!” Shouyou demanded a scowl coming across his face.

Kageyama scowled and after a bit of prodding he learned that the ‘king’ had tried to apply to Shiratorizawa but had been denied. And that the king also hated to be called by that name now.

Shouyou backed away acting scared of Kageyama’s scary face. He watched as a slight tension released from Kageyama as the boy seemed pleased by his reaction. Shouyou inwardly smirked, he would be able to read the setter no problem.

Soon enough they were introducing themselves to the third years. He was quite surprised that they recognized him, ‘The number 1 shortie’ who had those ‘wicked blocks and fast jumps.’

He grinned, quite proud that they had recognized him, “I’ll become your ace one day!” He promised giving a thumbs up.

Shouyou got a bit of teasing from the bald headed one, and pleasant smile from the grey haired one who said it was good to aim big.

Of course Kageyama snorted and insulted him. Shouyou wasn’t just going to take being insulted lying down so he responded back. He only stopped when he heard the older kids saying the vice principle was there.

Which got Kageyama to call him a coward.

And then the ‘king’ got in trouble with the vice principal after he angrily threw a ball at Shouyou who stepped out of the way and it managed to hit the principle and knocked his wig off.

Somehow Shouyou still managed to get kicked out with Kageyama, and it was totally that boys fault, he was the one who kept picking the fights. Shouyou only defended himself. Now they wouldn’t be let in unless they could work together.

Shouyou stared tilting his head as he looked at Kageyama who looked annoyed. “I’m perfectly willing to work with you to play volleyball, but the question is do  _ you _ value your pride or volleyball more.”

Kageyama shoved him back pushing himself to be in front of the door demanding to be let in that he would be willing to work with him. The captain of the volleyball club, who had introduced himself as Daichi Sawamura, looked out at them with a frown. “What are you really thinking?”

“If I have to play with Hinata as he is now, whether it’s receiving tossing or spiking, I’d rather do it by myself than with him.” 

“Hey!” Shouyou protested.

Daichi gave a chuckle, “You actually told me what you were thinking, I like that!” His expression hardened a bit, “But, you know, in a game where you can’t let the ball drop or have the same person touch the ball twice in a row…. In this kind of game… how do you plan to play by yourself?”

The captain smiled at him and then closed the door. Kageyama scowled an intense aura radiating from him. Shoyou sighed, inwardly grumbling, ‘So what if Shiratorizawa denied him, couldn’t he have tried other school’s?’

Shoyou paused and snickered, ‘Maybe he did and they all denied him.’

Kageyama turned to glare at him upon hearing his snickering, “Something funny?”

Shoyou gave a bright grin in response, “Nope! Just thinking of how to convince them to let us play.”

Kageyama growled, “I have to find a way to get in there quickly.”

“That isn’t possible, so why don’t you come over here and we actually plan something.”

“I have the potential to make them better, that by itself is enough of a reason to let me join.”

“Wow that is some confidence coming from you,” Shouyou muttered a bit impressed. “Or rather arrogance.” He tacked on unable to prevent himself from poking at the obvious weak spot.

Kageyama sent him a death glare. The two argued a bit before agreeing that they would challenge the older kids to a 2 on 2 match.

They ended up with a 3 on 3 match with the bald headed kid, Tanaka, being with them. Yet if they lost then Kageyama wouldn’t be allowed to be a setter. “You’ll still be allowed to play though, besides spikers are cooler,” Shouyou said with an innocent smile.

Kageyama grabbed and lifted him up by his shirt, yelling how setters were the coolest. “Spikers are cooler,” Shoyou continued on, “And blocking is also pretty fun.”

“You only managed to block half the time, the other half you ended up on the other side of the court.”

“Mistakes happen,” Shouyou responded with a shrug.

Then they overheard Tanaka say that the practice would be at 7 and so they agreed to arrive at 5.

The next morning they were both there along with a tired Tanaka who held the keys and a grin, “Gwaahh! You’re the best Tanaka-senpai!” Shouyou said giving a large beaming grin that Koji had once described as earnest yet also intimidating.

_“But_ _I wasn’t trying to be intimidating.”_

_ “It’s only intimidating in how large it is, like it makes you question how someone can be so happy, it’s a good sort of intimidating.” _

Tanaka just laughed, “Again!”

“Tanaka-Senpai!” Both he and Kageyama said making the second year smile at them happily.

Of course then Kageyama had to go and ruin the wonderful morning practice by refusing to spike to him, calling him useless and that he wasn’t needed to win.

So he made a bet with Kageyama, that he would get better at receiving. That week he solely practiced his receives, asking advice from the older students as well as meeting with Satori on wednesday after school to have the older boy help him figure out how to read where the ball was going to go.

At the end of the week he was able to start receiving Kageyama’s hits. He kept the ball up. Shouyou would not lose. Then a toss went up and Shouyou smiled widely a true genuine smile as he raced forward and lept up spiking the ball down on the other side of the court.

In two days time they would defeat whoever they were up against and play volleyball.

The night before the match as he and Kageyama were getting some last minute practice in they met the other two first years, Tsukishima Kei, and Yamaguchi Tadashi. Who offered to throw the match. Which was horrible because they could win on their own merit thank you very much.

The next day Tsukishima spoke loudly, “Now who should we crus- block first? The short one or Tanaka-san~? And I really want to see the King lose.”

Tanaka growled upon hearing that and hissed, “Time to show these guys are game faces.” Then his voice raised up a bit, “Did you hear that just now~? Saying such a thing, geez that Tsu-Kishima-kun… honestly,” He turned facing towards the opposing team, his eyes narrowed and his lips pulled back into a snarl, “Well pulverize ya.”

Shouyou stared up at Tsukishima, his eyes wide and he tilted his head over so slightly his bangs falling to cover one of his eyes. ‘ _ Monster _ ’ echoed in his head, but he didn’t care. So what if he was? 

Kageyama stood behind him so he could not see the face he was making, but he could feel the intense aura that the boy seemed to radiate and so he assumed that Kageyama was making his own face at the opposing team.

He enjoyed watching as a flash of nervousness passed through Tsukishima’s eyes before it was gone.

Now it was time for the 3 vs 3 game to begin.

As they played he kept getting blocked by the others, and his blocks weren’t doing as well. Tsukishima was freakishly tall. But, Shouyou was able to at least get a one touch on the ball. Still the fact that Tsukishima kept blocking him was annoying. Then he learned about how Kageyama was abandoned and that they refused to accept his toss.

Shouyou shook his head, “That doesn’t matter.”

So on the next toss he jumped making sure he was there and Kageyama sent the ball to him. Then he gave a motivational speech, saying it didn’t matter what kind of toss it was, so long as Kageyama was tossing to him.

He managed to hit the ball, which was apparently a quick attack, something Satori had never told him about. After to do it he would have needed a proper setter. 

Now he had one and so the two tried to do the attack, but he kept missing. Eventually Sugawara talked with Kageyama and the dark haired boy seemed decisive as he said that he would get the ball to Shoyou.

‘Don’t watch the ball?’ Shouyou thought with a frown. How was he supposed to do that? Still he needed to do something so when it came time he ran and jumped. Closing his eyes he swung his arms and took in a deep breath as he felt the ball hit his hand. Opening his eyes he saw the ball land on the other side.

Tanaka was instantly congratulating him, and Kageyama was soon asking why he had his eyes closed. He replied that the taller boy had told him to not look at the ball. It took a little bit more practice, but soon the duo got the hang of it and were quickly making more and more quicks.

Finally they won the first set and Tanaka shouted at Tsukishima taunting him about the fact that the taller blonde had said that he would crush them. The first year clicked his tongue in annoyance and ignored them.

They went onto the second set and eventually won. Shoyou was exhausted but a feeling of happiness spread through him, lighting his nerves with an unquenchable fire. ‘More! I want to win more! Play more!’

The two chatted for a bit as they pumped themselves up to practice their new quick attack. “Freak quick,” Tsukishima muttered.

Suddenly a man rushed in gasping about a practice match against one of the best schools in the prefecture, Aoba Johsai. The teacher soon introduced himself as Takeda Ittetsu, that he had no volleyball experience but would help them out however he could. 

“Please tell me you didn’t beg for the match,” Daichi asked, his tone worried.

“Not this time, but they do have one condition.”

“Oh?” 

“Yes, Kageyama-kun is to play as setter the entire game.”

The team seemed surprised by that and the other third years looked towards Sugawara to see his reaction, “I look forward to seeing the quick in a real match,” He said, his expression bright and happy.

The next day the group was talking about the roles which they had planned out last night. Shouyou was going to be a decoy, and they commented on his lack of blocking skills. Shouyou pouted, ‘I'll practice even more than!’

Although his stomach twisted even more as he thought about going to the practice match, it was incredibly nerve wracking, knowing that if he messed up then they could replace him. That weekend he went over to Satori’s house letting himself in with the key they had given him. 

Their parents had seen how often the two boys visited each other and had let them open the doors to each other so both boys had keys to each other's place. He went to Satori’s room after calling out to the house.

There he found Satori with someone else, a really tall person. “Shoyou! You’re here! Meet my friend I made, his name is Ushijima Wakatoshi.”

Shouyou bowed, “Pleased to meet you.”

“Wakatoshi, this is my best friend Hinata Shouyou.”

The taller boy looked down at him and nodded.

“What brings you here Shouyou?” Satori asked, tilting his head.

“I need to improve my blocking, my team said that they were bad.”

Satori gaped, “Bad! You’re not bad! Wait… did they think you were read blocking or something?”

Shouyou blinked, “Actually I don’t know, they just said blocking. Still some extra practice won’t hurt.”

“You play?” Ushijima asked, his naturally narrow eyes narrowing further.

“Yes,” Shouyou replied stoutly staring up at the taller player.

“Are you a libero?”

“No, I am a middle blocker.”

Ushijima frowned.

“My Kouhai is the second best person I know in guess blocking~” Satori said, leaping over to rest his head on top of Shouyou’s. “And his spikes would be good too if he had a proper setter.”

“I see.”

“So how about it Wakatoshi? Want to help me train Shouyou-chan’s blocking some more.”

The taller boy was silent for a moment before giving a single nod.

That weekend the three practiced and Shouyou started to get used to at least being able to touch Ushijima’s spikes. The tall boy was quiet and didn’t speak, and Shouyou got the feeling of disapproval coming from the older player. As the weekend came to a close and Shouyou decided to return to his house Ushijima stopped him. “You have potential.”

Shouyou grinned, “Thanks.”

“It’s being wasted,” Ushijima continued.

“Eh?”

“You won’t be able to improve enough at that no name school of yours.”

“Where else could I go? Shiratorizawa’s coach would not accept me due to my height.”

Ushijima blinked and then nodded, “Why not go to one of the better schools, like Aoba Johsai?”

“My second choice was Karasuno because one of my idols used to go there.”

Ushijima frowned and after a moment of him staring at Shouyou he said his goodbye and left.

“Wow~” Satori said staring with wide eyes, “Wakatoshi-san is soooo hard to read. I can’t tell if he likes you or hates you~”

“Me neither,” Shouyou said with a sweatdrop.

“Well good luck in your practice match!”

“Thanks!”

When he returned to his house his mother frowned at him, “You didn’t tell me you were going to be at Tendou’s house.”

“Sorry Kaa-san, I forgot.”

She shook her head and waved him off to his room. “Next weekend make sure you’re home, your father will be here.”

“Alright,” Shouyou said nodding.

The next morning he went to school and the team practiced their setup one last time. Tomorrow would be the big practice match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: Woo Second Chapter written! I hope you have enjoyed this so far.  
> Word Count: 2352  
> Date Written: 3/9/20  
> Date Posted: 3/10/20


	3. Aoba Johsai

Finally they arrived at Aoba Johsai, Shouyou gulped nervous, trying to keep calm. A moment later he snickered as he watched Tanaka and Tsukishima tag team a couple Aoba Johsai members with their comments.

Then they had a few minutes to set up and prepare for the game, Shouyou taking this time to go to the bathroom where he ended up running into a couple of the players where he and the other guy started talking about Kageyama and how rude he was. At least until they got onto the matter of his serve. “His serves are the absolute worse.” The scallop head looking boy stated.

“His serves are absolutely amazing.”

“I guess you never had to try and hit one of his king tosses.”

At that moment Tanaka came around the corner instantly coming to Shouyou’s defense. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

But, now it was time for them to play against each other. 

The first set things were in a bit of a disarray as the team truly got their first taste of practicing against a real enemy. They ended up losing the set in the end because Shouyou for everything he has worked on, has not worked on his serves.

On a related note he never wanted to hit Kageyama on the back of his head again. If the guy had been somewhat intimidating before now he was downright terrifying. 

In the second set they finally managed to get their ‘freak quick’ in. After that the tables turned and it was them taking the lead.

“It really is a life savior that they don’t have someone that serves like Kageyama,” Sugawara muttered to the team.

Kageyama blinked looking at Sugawara, his expression seeming to pale a bit. “You jinxed us.”

“What?”

“That setter… I don’t think he’s their normal setter.”

“Oikawa-san!” A loud cry filled the gymnasium and Kageyama’s pale expression turned pastel white.

They watched for a moment as Oikawa smiled up at the crowds of girls waving at them, “Kageyama, who is that pretty boy over there? He’s making me very irritated.” 

“Oikawa-san, he is a very offensive based setter whose attacks I believe to be top notch amongst his team.”

Both Tanaka and Shouyou were impressed even as Kageyama scowled, “He also has an incredibly bad personality.”

“Wow, for you to say that it must be really bad,” Shouyou teased with a laugh.

“Probably worse than even Tsukishima.”

“If you know him…” Daichi started.

Kageyama nodded interrupting Daichi as he finished the captain’s statement, “He was my Senpai at Kitagawa Daiichi.”

‘The senpai of the ‘king’... would make him a ‘Grand King’’ Shouyou thought watching as the older boy walked over, stopping at the net with a bright smile on his face.

“Hey there~ long time no see Tobio-chan, you’ve really grown,” Oikawa started seeming perfectly polite. “How is the ‘king’ doing?” There was the slightest shift in his voice, making it seem more taunting.

“...I learned to serve and block by watching him, he’s a force to be reckoned with,” Kageyama muttered to them.

Oikawa pouted, “Not even going to respond to me Tobio-chan? What a rude Kouhai I have.”

“Oikawa!” The Aoba Johsai coach barked out, calling the setter to him.

“Go warm up, and be extra careful this time.”

“Kaaay,” Oikawa said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“We have to finish this quickly and win before Oikawa-san can join the game,” Kageyama told them, his tone serious as they got into position for the start of the third set. 

They played and striked hard and fast and made it to 20-23 in their favor, but then Oikawa was brought in as a pinch server. He smiled at them, “No matter how strong your offensive power,” His eyes flickered over Tanaka and Shouyou as he said this, “If your recieve doesn’t connect then there’s no meaning in it, is there?” He stated, pointing at Tsukishima.

With that he jumped into the air, and Shouyou gaped as the ball slammed down a split second later right where Tsukishima was standing. “A declaration of intent…” Sugawaru muttered from behind them.

“That level of control and power, that’s crazy,” Ennoshita said.

“Just as I thought, I noticed while I was stretching, but… you #5 and #6 are bad at receives right? I'm guessing you’re first years?”

Shouyou nodded, after all it was true and something he was working on, so why should he get upset at that. Even if it was annoying to just have it so blatantly pointed out. Glancing over at Tsukishima he expected the other middle blocker to be calm as well, but was surprised by the anger displayed on his face.

It seemed that Tsukishima didn’t like having his flaws pointed out to him, how interesting.

The next serve was also aimed at Tsukishima.

He should probably say something, but… Tsukishima was a jerk. Still he didn’t want them to lose the game, so what could he do? Shouyou was about to speak up when Daichi told them to move to the sides a bit as he took a more central position. Oikawa still aimed at Tsukishima, a smile still on his face and his eyes alight in glee. Tsukishima was able to return the ball this time though.

“I suppose I made it too easy, but now it’s a free ball~” Oikawa said.

Shouyou watched and ran before the Setter even called out a name or tossed the ball and jumped up managing to slam the ball down. Shouyou grinned shouting and pumping a fist into the air, slamming a ball down like that was one of the best feelings. They were at match point now.

They served, but the other team managed to receive it and went to have it spiked, Shouyou managed to get a one touch on it. Soon the ball was going to Kageyama and Shouyou dashed to the other side jumping up closing his eyes and spiking the ball down. The ball slammed down right next to Oikawa who's eyes went wide at the speed of the super quick.

The whistle blew and the Karasuno Volleyball Club looked at each for a moment in stunned silence before cheering, they had managed to beat Aoba Johsai. “Alright everybody line up!” Was called and the two teams lined up facing each other and bowing. Then they went to there teacher who gave an amazing speech. Then they were dismissed to go wash up and meet by the bus.

Shouyou walked down the halls pausing as he felt someone walking behind him, turning to look over his shoulder he blinked as he spotted Oikawa, the grand king. Who had yet to hear the nickname Shouyou had decided to give him, “What do you want, Grand King?” He questioned giving a polite smile as he fully turned to the captain of Aoba Johsai.

He saw the older boy blink at the nickname, a hint of surprise and pleasure at the title. “Ah~ Chibi-chan, I just came to say that your quick is pretty good,” Oikawa said.

Shouyou narrowed his eyes a bit, Daichi had instantly noticed that he had closed his eyes, and Oikawa seemed to be on a stronger level, so he didn’t believe for one moment that the man didn’t fully know it was Kageyama that was enabling him to hit that spike.

Oikawa must have read his thought from his expression as his grin widened a bit, “I know it’s because Tobio-chan tosses right to your hand, but he never bothered to do that with anyone else, and he hasn’t done that super quick with any of your other teammates… which means he can only do it with you,” Oikawa said before looking down his eyes narrowing a bit as his expression seemed like a cat who caught the canary. “Because only you are quick enough to hit that quick.”

Shouyou gave a nod, “I suppose, Daichi-san keeps saying that I have a natural athletic ability.”

“You do, once you trained more with a setter your spikes will become even better…” Oikawa spoke in a musing tone. 

Shouyou tilted his head looking at the captain of the other team wondering what he was trying to do. His instincts told him that Oikawa was up to something. “You do guess blocking, yes?” Oikawa questioned looking at him.

“Yeah,” Shouyou responded.

“I’ve not seen many people successfully do guess blocking to such a high degree.”

“You think my guess blocking is good?” Shouyou questioned doubtfully wondering if Oikawa was trying to flatter him for some reason.

“The second best person I’ve seen~” He stated, grinning and sticking his tongue out.

Shouyou nodded giving a bright grin as he flushed from the praise, the best person would obviously be Satori, because his friend had mentioned that they have faced off against Aoba Johsai.

Oikawa pouted, “You don’t seem to get upset.”

He blinked, “Eh?”

“When I’m taunting you! It happened earlier as well, I said you were bad at receiving and you didn’t seem to care!” Oikawa said pointing at him and pouting.

“It’s true, so why should it bother me?” Shouyou responded tilting his head and staring intensely at Oikawa.

“I’ll admit, it’s a bit annoying to have it so blatantly pointed out, but that just means I have to continue to work hard and improve it.”

Oikawa’s grin turned frightening, “I like you Chibi-chan! Let’s practice together sometime.” With that Oikawa pulled out a pen and a piece of paper out of seemingly nowhere and jotted down something.

He handed the paper over, “Text me later~ Toodles!” Oikawa stated waving and walking away.

Shouyou stared blankly at the spot the setter had just stood for a moment. He pocketed the number and then made his way to the restroom, finding it empty he washed his hair a bit sighing in relief as the cool water rinsed away the sweat. 

Then he made his way to where the rest of the team was gathering. The group walked a bit, “... Even though Takeda-sensei said what he did, no matter how excellent Kageyama and Hinata’s combo may be, frankly, when it comes to strengthening the perimeter we are still weak.” He released a break, “It’s frustrating to admit that though.”

“Oooh~ As expected of the captain,” Oikawa said grinning as he looked at them from his spot of leaning against the wall. “You really understand the situation huh?”

Tanaka growled stepping forward as he put on one of his ‘intimidating’ faces. “What the hell? You want a piece of this? Huh?”

Oikawa raised his hand slightly waving it up and down, “Aww, don’t be so hard on me~ I just came to say hello~”

“Today, I was only able to join in for the last few points but, next time, lets compete full throttle from the start,” Oikawa said grinning at them all in a friendly, yet strangely menacing way. Shouyou was a bit jealous, it wasn’t easy to appear friendly and intimidating at once, he had tried for ages until he ended up giving up on trying to be both intimidating and friendly. “Your attacks were certainly incredible, but if all of your early receives are slow and hesitant, you’ll reach your limit sooner, won’t you?”

Oikawa’s gaze turned serious as he looked over at all of them, “I’m not the only one who hits an insanely strong serve. The Interhigh preliminaries are coming up. Will you really be able to survive them? Seeing as how I want,” He paused a second to point dramatically at Kageyama, “to crush my useless-ly adorable kouhai in a regular game, fair and square, as a setter!”

Shouyou’s eyes flicked over to Kageyama to see his hands clenching as he glared at Oikawa who was smirking. 

Oikawa -1

Kageyama-0

Oikawa turned and started to walk away even as he called over his shoulder, “There isn’t any time left until the next tournament. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you do.”

Daichi remained silent and Kageyama looked at the captain hesitantly raising a hand, “D-don’t let it get to you… he just likes to rile people up.”

Daichi snorted then started chuckling and Tanaka and Shouyou looked at him carefully, trying to see if he had actually cracked, “Daichi-san?” “Captain?”

“It’s true that there’s no time left until the interhigh preliminaries… however… It's about time he returned.”

Tanka’s face lit up.

“Huh? Who are you talking about?”

“Karasuno’s Guardian Deity.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: I wrote this in 2 and a half hours. I am amazed.   
> Word Count: 2078  
> Date Written: 3/10/20  
> Date Posted: 3/11/20


	4. Guardian Deity and the Ace

The group traveled back to Karasuno and started cleaning up before heading home and the first years were filled in a bit about Karasuno’s Guardian Deity. Once he arrived home he started to change, pausing when he pulled the number out of his pocket. He added the number to his phone, saving the name as Grand King.

[Hello Grand King.]

He went to finish changing and was brushing his teeth when his phone buzzed.

_ [Chibi-chan! You texted me~ :D] _

Shouyou snorted, he should have guessed that Oikawa would be one for emoji’s, now the question was how to respond. Drumming his fingers lightly he responded after a moment.

[You mentioned something about practicing?]

_ [Yep!] _

There was nothing else, and Shouyou sighed, it seemed Oikawa wanted him to ask for the meeting. But, it was late and he needed to get some sleep, so he decided to message more tomorrow. Although he sent one quick text to Satori, telling him that they had won the practice match against Aoba Johsai.

The next morning he checked his phone and found a few messages from Oikawa and one from Satori asking for all the details. He typed up a bit more detailed response and sent it to satisfy his friends curiosity. He decided to respond to Oikawa later when he had more time. He got ready and ate a quick breakfast, giving Natsu a hair ruffle before he ran out of the house and hopped on his bike riding towards his school. He arrived and locked his bike to the bike rack before heading to the gym meeting up with Kageyama and the two raced towards the locker room. The two managed to tie and were leaning against the wall and the railing as they caught their breaths and waited for everyone else to arrive.

The others arrived and soon they started their morning practice. Kageyama was practicing his serves trying and failing to hit the bottle, and Shouyou was working on his receives. Which wasn’t going well.

He was on the top gathering a ball he had accidently sent up when he saw Kageyama set up for another serve. It really looked like it would hit the bottle this time, but quick as a flash someone was in front of it receiving the ball in a perfect manner. Even the sound was different. “So cool…” Shouyou muttered impressed.

“Noya-san!” He heard shouted as he started to climb down the ladder. 

“Yooo, Ryuuuu-” The other boy shouted holding his hands up and racing to Tanaka who threw his hands up and the two jumped and high fived.

“Nishinoya!” Daichi and Sugawara shouted grins stretching across their faces.

Daichi turned to them, his look turning a bit apologetic, “Ah, Hinata, Kageyama, this is Nishinoya Yuu.”

Shouyou and Kageyama both bowed their heads, “Hello.” They greeted.

“What’s up,” He said grinning at them.

Shouyou tilted his head slightly observing the other boy, who was surprisingly shorter than him. It was surprising, but then… if this guy was good at receives then he was probably the libero, the only position where a short person was generally accepted into volleyball.

Kageyama and Nishinoya soon got into a conversation about their former middle schools. And Nishinoya explained that he joined Karasuno because of the uniforms.Then the door opened and Kiyoko, their manager, came in.

“Kiyoko-san!” Nishinoya shouted running towards her.

“Now wait!” Tanaka growled also running towards her.

Kiyoko ducked and the two boys went soaring over her landing outside with a smack. A moment later the two came back in and Nishinoya looked at all of them, “So what about Asahi-san? Did he come back?”

“No,” Daichi said shaking his head.

Anger blazed in Nishinoya’s eyes, “That coward!”

“Hey Noya! Don’t talk about our ace like that!”

Shouyou blinked, ‘So they actually do have an ace here. How come no one mentioned Nishinoya or Asahi before?’

“It’s just like I said before! If Asahi isn’t coming back then neither am I!”

The boy stormed out. Shouyou paused for a moment before heading out after him, the boy was good at receives and even if he wasn’t willing to rejoin the club then perhaps he would be willing to teach him how to be better at receiving.

“Ah, Nishinoya-san?”

The boy turned to him with a curious expression, “Yes?”

“You are the libero, right?”

Shoyou watched as the boy’s face closed off a bit, “Why do you think that, ‘cause I’m short?”

“No, it’s because you're good at receiving, like the one you just picked up from Kageyama, and besides your Karasuno’s Guardian deity, right? That’s what Daichi called you.”

Nishinoya blushed, rubbing the back of his head, “Guardian- what.. What’s with that? Being called such an extravagant name.. I’m not- he really said that?”

Shoyou gave one of his most earnest smiles, “He really did.”

Nishinoya started muttering under his breath, “Being called such a cool name…”

“You see, I’m really clumsy with recieves, even though it’s one of the most important things of volleyball…” A little flattery was always good, now time for the kill, “So please, would you teach me how to do recieves, Nishinoya-senpai?”

Nishinoya’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at Shouyou his hands up in a guard for a moment, then he gave a grin that sent shivers down Shouyou’s spine, “You… After practice, I’ll treat you to an Ice-pop!”

Shouyou blinked surprised as he tilted his head.

“‘Cause I’m a senpai after all!”

Shouyou cheered and silently thanked Daichi for the comment of the boy wanting to be called senpai.

“But, just because I’m teaching you doesn’t mean I’m coming back!” Nishinoya added.

The two went into the gym and Shouyou watched eagerly as Nishinoya started to explain, only the explanation consisted of ‘suu’ ‘saa’ and ‘pon’ which was a bit confusing.

Shouyou frowned, how was he supposed to figure out what the elder boy was talking about?

* * *

“Wow Satori! You’ve improved so much!” A 2nd year junior high Shouyou said to the first year high schooler.

“I know!” Satori said nodding as he grinned widely pointing at himself, “Whose the number one Miracle boy?!”

“You are!” Shouyou said beaming at his friend, proud that the boy had improved so much, “But… how did you do that?”

“Well, now that I’m in high school I’m playing with and against a lot more high caliber players. So I read them, like we do for guess blocking, only instead of predicting their movements I watch them, and if they are better than me I copy their movements to improve myself.”

Shouyou stared up at the older boy with wide impressed eyes, “Amazing!”

Satori grinned and ruffled Shouyou’s hair, “It might take some getting used to, but I bet you could do it pretty easily!”

* * *

Shouyou stared intensely at Nishinoya, “Senpai can you please demonstrate again?”

“Sure!” Nishinoya said giving him a thumbs up and demonstrating once more saying the suu’ ‘saa’ and ‘pon’, but this time he watched how the ball connected, the way Nishinoya’s body moved.

“It’s no good… guys who ‘move on instinct’ aren’t going to get one bit of what he’s saying,” Tanaka spoke to Kageyama in the back.

Shouyou tuned them out, “Again please.”

Nishinoya just nodded showing the stance one more and Shouyou watched as he crouched and held his arms out, how when he thrust up it was with his hips and his entire body.

“You think you got it?” Nishinoya asked after a moment.

Shouyou nodded, “This position, right?” He questioned as he bent his legs and held his arms, imitating Nishinoya’s posture as much as possible.

Sugawara helpfully tossed a ball and Shouyou received the ball.

“W-wah? You actually got that?!” Tanaka asked surprise.

He nodded, “It took a few demonstrations, but I get it now!”

“Amazing!”

“I’ll still need to practice it a lot to get the muscle memories! But, just having this correct posture and way to move will be a huge improvement, thank you Nishinoya-senpai!” Shouyou said bowing to the shorter boy.

Nishinoya waved his hands, “Ah it’s fine! No big deal to help out my kohai!”

The two continued to practice a bit, Nishinoya helping him refine his form. “You’re a fantastic teacher Nishinoya-senpai.”

“You can call me Noya if you want Hinata,” Nishinoya said smiling at him with a thumbs up.

“Alright then Noya-senpai!” He agreed enthusiastically.

After awhile Shouyou decided to ask about Asahi, “Who is that Asahi-san person?”

Tanaka’s head whipped towards him, “Don’t just blurt out that name.”

Noya rolled his eyes, “It’s fine, Azumane Asahi, is Karasuno’s ace, or he  _ should _ be.”

“Cool! I want to be an ace as well! Not now obviously, but when I get better.”

“Haah?” Noya muttered looking confused.

“In my first year of Junior high I saw a video of Karasuno at the Spring High School Championship, the Little Giant was the ace and he was so cool! I decided that I didn’t just want to be a blocker, I wanted to be an Ace! Someone that my team could depend on!”

“You want to be an ace… with your height?” Noya questioned in shock.

Shouyou tensed, but relaxed again as Noya quickly reached over and grabbed his shoulders, “That’s amazing! I’m sure in a couple years you might even be able to surpass our current ace, but you’re a ways off.”

Shouyou nodded, “I know, and I’m going to work hard!”

After that Nishinoya went on about how amazing a libero was and Shouyou made comments about how cool Noya was. His compliments were genuine, but nothing would be able to compare to the satisfaction he got from a perfect spike, or a well timed guess block.

Then Noya asked what his special talent was. Shouyou grinned, “Me? I’m the number one decoy,” He stated jabbing a thumb at himself. At first he hadn’t been too pleased, but Satori had stated how awesome it was, that he would be luring blockers to him, and that he would be able to savor how the blockers looked when they realized they had been tricked.

That had cheered him up, and gave him a bit of pride for being the decoy. Then the bell ringed and the boys jerked rushing to change and get to their first class on time. After school he and Kageyama decided to go meet the Ace for themselves so they went to the third year classes, but they didn’t know what Azumane looked like, so it wasn’t until they heard Asahi’s name called out that they realized the tall man with some stubble was actually the boy they were looking for.

“What are you guys doing here?” Sugawara asked.

“We came to meet Azumane-san!” Shouyou answered with a smile.

“Ah… please… just call me Asahi,” the boy said with a light smile as he held his hands up.

“These are the first years who joined Hinata and Kageyama,” Sugawara explained to Asahi.

“Hello,” Shouyou and Kageyama bowed politely.

“Hello,” He greeted back, “How many this year?” he asked Sugawara.

“4, but they are all promising.”

“I see,” Asahi replied smiling and turning back to them.

“Good luck and do your best!” He stated, clapping Shouyou on the shoulder.

Shouyou tilted his head, he knew that for some reason Asahi was no longer in the club, but he wondered why. “Asahi-san, the counselor is waiting,” a female stated and Asahi turned to leave waving at them.

Sugawara, Shouyou, and Kageyama, started walking towards the club and as they walked Sugawara explained that they had relied on Asahi too much.That they had suffered a crushing defeat because Asahi had been blocked over and over again. And that because of this he may now hate volleyball.

The club practiced volleyball, Noya helping them all improve their receives, though it became apparent that most of the others only got confused by his explanation. “How did you ever understand him?!” Takana asked him as he once more got hit by a ball that should have been easy to recieve.

“Erm, I watched him.”

“Watched him?” Tanaka questioned him and the other members started to pay attention to the conversation.

“Yeah, just like see how he moves and apply it.”

The other club members decided to try and, but none of them got it, Shouyou frowned wondering if it really was that difficult. As the practice came to an end Takeda came in and told them about the golden training week and the practice match he had set up against Nekoma, who was apparently there old rival.

After practice he and Kageyama started walking back and talked about how they could get Asahi back so that the 2nd and 3rd years wouldn’t be as upset. Getting ready for bed he blinked as he saw he had a few messages waiting. He had forgotten that Oikawa sent him some messages.

_ [You there~?] _

_ [Did you head off to bed already? :( ] _

_ [Good Morning Chibi-Chan! :) ] _

[Hello Grand King.]

Shouyou went over to Satori’s message to see that he sent him a rant about his day, apparently one of the students had decided it would be funny to put a tack on his chair. Shouyou shook his head and replied to Satori while waiting for a response from Oikawa.

[Whoever did it better not let you discover them.]

[ _ Yeah! I will definitely get my revenge.] _

[Good luck!]

[ _ I’m off to bed my precious kohai! Goodnight.] _

[G’night Satori.]

It was almost right after he finished saying goodnight to Satori that he received a message from Oikawa.

_ [I never did manage to ask why you gave me that nickname.] _

[Kageyama is known as the king and he said you were his senpai and are better than him, so that makes you the grand king.]

[ _ Kageyama admitted I was better than him? :D _ ]

[No, but it was clear to see. Even if he wouldn’t admit it.]

[ _ So about practice, are you free this weekend?] _

[Not this weekend, my dad is coming home.]

[ _ What about tomorrow afternoon then?] _

_ [ _ Sure, sounds good, where should we meet?]

The next text was an address to park that was out of the way from both schools, an area where it was unlikely anyone from either of the teams would see them. He and Oikawa said goodnight and then he went off to bed.

He woke up and after breakfast and a goodbye to Natsu and his mother he headed towards school, where Kageyama and him practiced in the morning. At lunch the two went to go meet Asahi to see if they could convince him to join the volleyball team again. Asahi spoke of the block and Shouyou said he knew what it was like, but now that he had Kageyama the view on the other side opened up. The bell ringed and the two started to head back, but not before Kageyama decided to have the last word and speak about working together.

That afternoon Hinata went to do team practice with his team until it was time to do individual practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: And here is another chapter! I am on a role~ Also if you think the text messages should be formatted differently I am open to suggestions. I'm always up for hearing your thoughts and guesses for what is going to happen in the story.  
> Word Count: 2510  
> Date Written: 3/10/20  
> Date Posted: 3/12/20


	5. Oikawa and the new Coach

As soon as they finished the team practice and were dismissed for individual practice Shouyou started packing up to head out.

“Your heading out?” Daichi asked tilting his head.

“Yeah, I am meeting with a friend whose going to help me out with volleyball,” Shouyou answered. He didn’t really think Oikawa was a friend, but it was the simplest answer to give.

“Alright, take care,” Sugawara said smiling.

Shouyou smiled and nodded, “I will, see you guys tomorrow.”

He went to his bike and then started heading towards the park that Oikawa wanted to meet up. He arrived at the park and saw that Oikawa was arriving at the same time.

“Chibi-chan~” The captain of the Aoba Johsai team greeted smiling his eyes closing.

“Grand king,” Shouyou responded, giving a wide smile in return, as if he was happy. While he was pretty excited he was also wary, remembering what Kageyama said about Oikawa’s personality being worse than Tsukishima’s.

“So what do you have planned for our practice?” Shouyou asked, looking towards the setter.

“First I want to see you go through everything, then I will decide what is best to help you improve.”

“Allright, but, why do you want to practice with me anyways? Since we’re from opposing teams.”

Oikawa laughed as he responded, “Would you believe me if I said it’s because you have awesome potential?”

“No,” Shouyou instantly responded.

Oikawa held a hand up to his heart, “Wah~ Chibi-chan doesn’t believe me?”

“Nope, actually, do you even know my name?” Shouyou asked after realizing he hadn’t ever introduced himself or heard Oikawa call him by his real name.

“Do you know mine?” He asked in return.

“I know your last name is Oikawa.”

“I am Oikawa Tooru, your amazing new training buddy~” Oikawa said grinning and giving a victory sign.

“I’m Hinata Shouyou.”

“Good, now let’s start, first your receives.”

Oikawa tossed 5 balls and Shouyou managed to get 2 of them but missed three of them.

“Next, your blocks. Since we don’t have a third person I just want you to guess where I am going to send my toss to.”

Oikawa tossed 5 balls, Shouyou guessing 3 of them right, the second one which was to the left the third which was again towards the left and the dump that Oikawa had done for number four, though number five he had guessed right and it was left again.

His serve was 1 out of 5. He didn’t even want to think about how badly he did with them. But finally it was time for spiking. Which wouldn’t be on the basis of five, but Oikawa said he would judge them once they got a bit of a rhythm since both of them had to match up.

Which was good because the first five spikes were a miss. It wasn’t like Shouyou could tell Oikawa how to make the spikes better, because he didn’t know what sort of spikes he liked, only that he jumped and the ball was there.

But after another 10 attempts they were starting to match up for a normal spike. Shouyou could hit the ball.

Another 30 attempts and he was hitting the ball consistently. “Alright, your spikes are not bad, lacking a bit of power, but I think you could make up for the lack of power in control.”

“Control?”

“Yes, you do guess blocking, which means you have to be able to see the court really well. Tell me, when you are looking at the other people are they a blur or do you see them in detail?”

“When I get super focused everything is in details and it’s like time slows down.”

Oikawa’s grin turned scary, “That Chibi-chan is exactly what I’m talking about. You should be able to aim the spikes to get around the blocks. But… the thing you are lacking on most is your serves.”

Shouyou nodded.

“Seriously, they are horrendous, do you know how embarrassing it would be if my student couldn’t be able to do an awesome serve?! So the first thing I am helping you practice is your serves.”

His mouth dropped as he stared at Oikawa, “You are helping me with my serves?”

“Yep! I can’t claim you as my official kohai without you being able to do awesome jump serves~!” Oikawa nodded as he smiled, his eyes glinting.

Shouyou was about to instantly jump on the offer, but he paused thinking about what Oikawa just said, “Grand King, what’s all this about me being your ‘official kohai’?”

Oikawa laughed and stuck his tongue out, “That’s for you to find out later~”

Shouyou stared at the older boy, judging whether the boy was actually aiming to sabotage him. Yet, he got the feeling that if Oikawa did have malicious intent, it wasn’t aimed at him. Finally he nodded, “Alright then.”

For several hours they spent with Oikawa helping him with his normal serves, first just making sure that they got over the net and into the opponent's court. He demonstrated the proper movement and then helped guide Shouyou’s movements.

By the end of the several hours Shouyou could hit the ball over the net and usually land it in the court, though where it would land was still hard for him to figure out. “Next time we meet we will work on control~” Oikawa stated, giving a bright grin. “I’ll text you tomorrow Chibi-chan~ Bye!”

“Bye!” Shouyou called back heading towards his bike and riding home.

The next morning he woke up and got ready, grimacing as his mother reminded him that his father would be coming home later that night. He loved his father, but the man was a bit strict. Checking his phone he saw a good morning from Oikawa and so sent a good morning back.

The day passed by pretty normally and the group practiced at the volleyball club. Shouyou continued to work on his receives, trying to get his muscle memories to adjust to the proper position.

He also did a few serves and Daichi noticed his serves were better, “Hinata! Your serves are going in! Your friend must be really good at serving for you to improve this much!”

Shouyou flushed at the compliment and nodded, after all it was true Oikawa was the best server he had ever seen so far. And Kageyama claimed that he was really good as well. Daichi chuckled and gave him a clap on the shoulder, “Keep up the good work!”

Shouyou gave a determined nod, a feeling of warmth spreading as Daichi complimented him. The captain was proud of him, and he didn’t want to let Daichi down.

“Everyone, gather up!” Takeda called out entering into the gym. “I’ll introduce you, starting today this is who’ll be handling coaching. Ukai-kun!”

There was a confused murmur from the club, “Isn't he the guy who runs Sakanoshita? Is he really a coach?” Tanaka questioned.

“I am, at least until the Nekoma match. And the shop belongs to my mom’s side of the family.”

“He is an Alumni from this school, and Coach Ukai’s grandson.”

“I wanna see what kind of players you are, so we have a game at 6:30! I’ve already called your opponents.”

“Eh? Opponents?”

“The Karasuno neighborhood association,” Coach Ukai informed them with a smug expression.

It took awhile to get ready and for their opponents to arrive, but in the end the coach managed to drag Asahi and Noya to play with the neighborhood association, and Sugawara also joined them saying he wanted to be able to set to Asahi again.

Soon they were playing against each other and the first years got their first look at just how good Sugawaru, Asahi, and Noya really were. They watched in awe as Noya got the blocked spike, they watched as despite their best efforts to block it again Asahi smashed it through.

That was what it meant to be ace, to be able to fight against 3 man blocks. They continued playing and Shouyou ran and ran, jumping to block, missing some but being able to one touch others. He wasn’t jumping high enough to be able to get a proper block in time.

But then, he got it, the perfect block, and it was against Asahi, the ball slammed down. “Wooo! Go Hinata!” Tanaka shouted.

Shouyou grinned and pumped a fist into the air, “Yeah! Who is an amazing blocker!”

He sweatdropped when the others stared at him. “Bah, my senpai would have been happy for me,” He muttered, pouting. Satori would have totally been up for hyping the amazing block. With that block he had saved them from the association taking the first set and raised them to 23 points. They needed one more point to get it to a deuce.

It wasn’t there’s to take though as Asahi managed to get another amazing spike off which blew right past their block.

Soon they were starting the second block. Shouyou couldn’t help but to be amazed by the spikes, one day he hoped he would be that good, that he would earn the title of ace. Yet, he also wanted to prove that despite not being an ace he would be able to fight as well. So he focused, staring intensely at the other team, wanting to read every moment, predict every toss.

His clarity sharpened and his blocks became better and better.

‘ _ I feel like I am at 120% today!’ _ Satori’s voice echoed in his mind.

‘Today. Today I am at 120%.’ Shouyou thought, staring at the other team, tracking their movements.

With his blocks he managed to get them up to 22 with the association at 23, but then they had a server who did these weird jump float serves that randomly dropped. With those serves the other team one the set, making them the victors.

The association team left and the coach pulled them all over, “Shorty! Where did you learn to guess block like that?”

“Eh? Guess block?” The team echoed turning to look at Shouyou.

“Um, my senpai has been teaching me ever since we were in elementary school.”

The team gaped at him, “Why didn’t you tell us you were guess blocking!?”

Shouyou rubbed the back of his head, “I thought you knew?”

“I just thought you were read blocking and moving so fast that it just seemed like guess blocking,” Sugawaru admitted.

“It would explain those times when he was on the completely wrong side of the court.”

“Wait, who is your senpai that taught you?”

“You kids can discuss that later, it’s late and you guys need to go home and eat.” The team nodded and refocused on the coach, “Anyways, in general the thing you guys need to work on most is your receives,” Coach Ukai said, “Starting tomorrow we’re going to work diligently on it! Now go stretch!”

The team stretched allowing their muscles to cool down so they didn’t get cramped up or strained as much. Then the team was dismissed allowing them all to return home. Shouyou decided to take his time and walked back. He checked his phone and saw a message from Oikawa who asked how his day was. 

Shouyou replied good and left it at that.

Next was Satori who told him about getting revenge on the kid by loosening the legs of his chair so when he sat on it the chair collapsed from underneath him. Satori then asked how his day was and Shouyou texted him about the match and how he had felt like he was at 120% and that it was just now due to their new coach that the team realized he was guess blocking.

Finally though he arrived home and went to the kitchen to grab the leftovers from the dinner since it was now closer to 9 o clock. “What have you been doing out so late?” His father’s voice questioned from behind him.

“I was at club practice,” Shouyou responded.

His father frowned, “You’re still playing volleyball? Don’t you think you should focus on your grades more, you need to be able to get into a good college after all if you want a good job.”

“Yes I am still playing, I told you I want to become a professional Volleyball player.”

“Volleyball players are tall.”

“I can play,” Shouyou stated confidently.

His father frowned, “Your mother showed me some of your grades, they have been getting worse and worse. You are failing most of your classes.”

Shouyou flushed, “I just… the material is hard… and I don’t understand English at all.”

“Improve your grades to a high C or higher by the end of this semester if you want to continue playing Volleyball.”

“Yes Tou-san,” Shouyou agreed knowing it was useless to argue. At least it was only a high C and not an A, which would have been impossible. Though he still had to improve his grades from an F. 

He was going to need help.

Shouyou quickly ate dinner and went off to bed after sending a message to Satori.

[Can you come over tomorrow and help me study?]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: This story seems to be coming along pretty well.   
> Word Count: 2191  
> Date Written: 3/11/20  
> Date Posted: 3/13/20


	6. Studying, Training, and Cat's

The next day he worked on studying and waited for Satori to show up, around 10 the boy did and the two went to his room and got too work studying. His father reluctantly approving of Satori being over. 

His father didn’t really like Satori, mostly since he knew that Satori was the reason Shouyou got into volleyball in the first place. Satori was good at history, and so helped him study up on the subject. Sunday unfortunately he was unable to help him so Shouyou started studying on his own, turning towards english which was his worst subject. Although he did get distracted a bit because he started to text Oikawa.

The two texted back and forth, Shouyou complaining about studying, and Oikawa offering sympathies, saying that he was also having to study. Which led them to talking about their best and worst subjects. Shouyou was decent at math, and apparently Oikawa was good at English.

Which Shouyou had jokingly sent a text that maybe Oikawa could help him study sometime this week. To his surprise though Oikawa agreed and the two decided to meet Monday after the team practice was over to do some studying.

Finally though Sunday drew to a close and the next morning Shouyou woke up and headed off to school, knowing that by the time he returned home his father would be gone. They started training hard, the coach drilling them on recieves over and over again. Then they were released for Individual practice.

“You’re leaving Hinata?” Sugawara asked, spotting him heading out.

Shouyou nodded, “Yeah, my dad wants me to improve my grades, if I don’t then I won’t be able to stay in the club. I’ll still do individual training, but I also need to study.”

Sugawara gave him a sympathetic look, “If you need any help, let me know, I’m not the best, but studying is always better with someone else.”

Shouyou smiled, “Thank you Sugawara-san!”

“You know you can just call me Suga like everyone else if you want,” Sugawara said tilting his head a bit. The other first years had already taken to calling him Suga, but Shouyou had still addressed him by his full last name.

Shouyou blinked and nodded, “Alright then Suga-san!”

“Take care!” Suga called out to him as he went to the locker room to change. Afterwards he rode his bike out to a coffee shop that was in the middle between Karasuno and Aoba Johsai, the place he and Oikawa had agreed to meet.

“Chibi-chan~ over here!” Oikawa called out waving to him.

Shouyou smiled and went over and the two started studying, Oikawa helping him with English, and Shouyou giving some advice to Oikawa for math. The two also worked on a better schedule, because taking off from individual practice was not something the two wanted to do often. So now Shouyou would be having a study session during lunch, texting Oikawa any questions he had. Once a week they would take off from individual practice for either studying or practicing, whichever the two decided on.

The two also decided that they would meet up to study on the weekends, and when not studying they would practice volleyball. 

The week passed by quickly in a blur of studying at lunch and doing his best to pay attention in class, and drilling in recieves. The practices were so intense that it was easy to tell they were improving, but the question was if they were improving fast enough. Not to mention that the training camp would be starting after this weekend.

When the weekend came he and Oikawa met up and did some volleyball practice on Saturday. They were working on Shouyou’s serves, so that he could start working on controlling where the ball was going, even if it was just a normal serve.

Sunday the two studied at the coffee shop, Oikawa helping him with English, which apparently a project was coming up for a new book they would be studying. 

Monday he couldn’t help but fidget a lot as he was excited for his first training camp. The group practiced, the Coach drilling them over and over again. Later that night after practice he was exhausted and going to take a bath when he saw someone else in the building he didn’t recognize.

Apparently the scare was for nothing though as it turned out to just be Noya. The next morning they were woken up bright and early to go for a run. He and Kageyama started racing against each, soon though he managed to outrun the other boy and when he realized just how far he had run he realized that he was nowhere close to his teammates. Frowning he shot a quick message to Kageyama saying where he was.

Looking around he spotted a boy with black and blonde hair and a bright red jersey sitting on a curb and playing a game on his phone. Shouyou looked at them for a moment and the boy shifted glancing up for a moment before returning to his game. Shouyou wouldn’t have spoken up, but he spotted the persons volleyball bag and was curious about what position the boy played. “What are you doing?” Shouyou asked, giving a polite smile.

The boy didn’t look up as he mumbled, “umm, err, … got lost.”

“You came from a different part of Japan?” Shouyou questioned.

The boy nodded, answering with a mumbled yes.

“So what position do you play?”

“Um…” The boy shifted glancing at the volleyball bag before glancing up at him again, “Setter.”

“I’m in a volleyball club too, I’m a middle blocker, my name is Hinata Shouyou.”

“...Kozume… Kenma.” The boy answered quietly.

“Nice to meet you Kozume-san! Are you in high school?”

The boy nodded.

“What year? I’m in first.”

“Second,” Kozume answered.

“Ah, sorry!” Shouyou said quickly bowing to the upperclassmen.

“It’s fine… stuff like sports hierarchy… I don’t like it.”

“You’re different from our setter, he’s more of the grr type,” Shouyou stated before flattening his hair and glaring, “get better dumbass.” He said in an impression of Kageyama.

That earned him a twitch of the lips from Kozume who looked amused. “I think it’ll be fun playing against you friday!” Shouyou stated grinning.

Kozume tilted his head looking up at him again, then he blinked his eyes glancing at Shouyou’s shirt.

“Ah, yeah…” The boy said nodding.

Shouyou took a seat next to Kozume and the two chatted about volleyball for a few more minutes, and Kozume told him that he could just call him Kenma. Shouyou told him to just call him Shouyou then.

Then another taller boy arrived, his hair spiked up with one bit flopping down over his right eye. “Kenma!” The boy called out.

“Ah, it’s Kuroo.”

Kenma went to stand up.

“Hinata you idiot!” Kageyama’s voice shouted as the taller boy ran over to him.

Kuroo’s eyes narrowed slightly at Kageyama. 

“C’mon, lets go,” Kageyama said, grabbing him to drag him away. His grip was a bit too tight.

“Hey! At least let me say goodbye!” Shouyou gripped squirming free. Absentmindedly he rubbed his arm, Kageyama really needed to work on moderating his grip.

“Make it quick, we have to get back to the team,” Kageyama replied stiffly.

He turned to Kenma, “I’ll see you later Kenma!”

The boy nodded, “Yeah... till next time Shouyou.”

Kenma’s friend, Kuroo blinked and gave a sideways glance to Kenma.

“Hurry it up dumbass,” Kageyama growled glaring at Kuroo and Kenma.

“You really should learn some patience,” Kuroo spoke up.

Kageyama growled, “We’re leaving,” and reached over to grab Shouyou again. Only to be stopped when Kuroo gripped his wrist.

Shouyou blinked looking up at the two who were glaring at each other, “You should be nicer to your teammate,” Kuroo stated.

Kageyama pulled his hand free from Kuroo and his normal glare turned into an actual glare, “Don’t tell me what to do.”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow and turned to Shouyou, “Is this his normal behavior?”

“Yeah?” Shouyou answered, confused as to why the other boy was asking.

“I’m not leaving you alone with him then,” Kuroo stated nodding firmly as he stepped in front of Shouyou.

He tilted his head, confused and sent a questioning glance to Kenma. “He can’t stand bullying,” Kenma told him in his normal quiet voice.

“Bullying? But… Kageyama doesn’t bully me, he’s just grumpy and a bit of a jerk.”

It was at this time that the rest of their team members seemed to show up at the same time to see the stand off between Kuroo and Kageyama.

Daichi walked up, “What’s going on?” He questioned looking at the group.

“A misunderstanding,” Shouyou answered looking between the two.

“Kuroo-san thinks that Kageama is bullying me, but.. It’s just how Kageyama is,” Shouyou explained, waving his hands a bit.

Daichi blinked and sighed a bit, “Kageyama, I’ve talked with you about your excessive name calling before.”

Kageyama tilted his head and a confused expression came across his face. Kuroo watched continuing to stand in front of Shouyou and Kenma. Kenma ignored the two standing off as he handed his phone to Shouyou with the new contact page pulled up, Shouyou typed in his info and handed the phone back to the boy who just returned to playing his game on his phone. Their teams came closer, standing behind each side, a tense atmosphere between them.

Daichi saw the expression and sighed, pushing down Kageyama into a bow, “Please forgive him, we’re working on teaching him how to be a good friend. He doesn’t mean to come across as a bully, it’s just he’s never had a friendship before.”

Kageyama gave an embarrassed flush, “Daichi!”

Kuroo’s stern expression lessened as he nodded, but then he spoke up, “That still is no excuse for him,” He pointed to Kageyama, “hurting him,” he gestured to Shouyou.

Daichi nodded, “I agree and will make sure Kageyama runs extra drills as punishment.”

The two boys shook hands and then turned away from each other calling for the teams to follow them. As he walked away with his team he felt his phone buzz and saw a message from Kenma who apologized for Kuroo. Shouyou replied that it was fine and that the older boy seemed nice.

The boys returned to school and as soon as school was over they went to the gym and practiced. The week passed by quickly in a blur of training and excitement as the group ended up getting their uniforms.

In the few minutes of spare time he had Shouyou found himself on his phone as he responded to Satori, Oikawa, Kenma, and also Kuroo. Because apparently Kuroo stole his number from Kenma and decided to call and apologize himself for stepping out of line. That interfering hadn’t been something he should have done.

Shouyou had explained that it was fine, and that it was cool that someone was nice enough to stand up for a complete stranger. After that the two kept messaging each other, mostly about volleyball and their excitement about the upcoming match.

Finally the day arrived and the two teams faced off against each other, properly this time. They bowed to each other than entered the gym. Shouyou went over to Kenma saying hi to his friend.

“What do you want with our setter?” A voice growled and Shouyou stared at the guy who looked almost exactly like Tanaka except he had a blonde mohawk on top. He even made one of the same intimidation faces as Tanaka.

Which speaking of, Tanaka had made his way over and was growling at the other boy, “And what do you want with your first year, huh?”

“The hell was that?” The Nekoma player questioned tilting his head up to look down at Tanaka.

“You wanna rumble, city boy?”

The two eyed each other up until Sugawara and another boy walked over. “Saying you wanna rumble… we’re here for a match so of course we are going to. And stop with that city boy stuff, it’s embarrassing.”

Tanaka stilled and looked down.

At the same time the new Nekoma player started scolding the Tanaka look alike, “Yamamoto, stop immediately picking fights with people, it makes you look like an idiot.”

The Tanaka look alike, Yamamoto, stilled and looked down.

“Wow, Tanaka and erm, Yamamoto(?) really do act alike,” Shouyou commented to Kenma who nodded in return, a faint smile on his face. 

The two friends looked around and saw that Sugawara had started chatting with the boy who had scolded Yamamoto. And that Kuroo and Daichi we’re shaking hands, both eyeing each other up.

“Let’s go!” The two captains called out and the teams met up for pregame team meetings.

“Frankly, our current combination is one which has just been assembled. We’re mismatched and rough around the edges, and on top of that today is this lineup’s first match. Our opponet is an unfamiliar team, so we don’t know how things will turn out and we might end up slamming against a wall.” Daichi said firmly looking all of them in the eye before continuing, “But, when that happens, it will be our chance to surpass it. Tsukishima, we’re counting on you to shut down their spikers. Kageyama your serves will be a valuable weapon as with your sets. Nishinoya and I will be the backbone, keeping the ball in the air. Tanaka, Asahi your spikes will drive home the fact that we aren’t weak anymore. And Hinata, you are our surprise element, you will draw their attention, make them focus on you with your blocks and your quick attacks.” As Daichi spoke of their roles for the active players they all straightened up gaining a determined glint. “Let’s do this!”

“OSU!” The team shouted in return, fired up and ready to begin the match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: *Cackles* My wonderful brain thought of something. *Cat like grin* Enjoy~  
> Word Count: 2317  
> Date Written: 3/11/20  
> Date Posted: 3/14/20


	7. Karasuno vs Nekoma

The team got into positions and Kenma stood in the serve position. The whistle blew and Kenma made a nice serve. Asahi received it, calling out that it was a bit short. Kageyama got into position and Shouyou ran and jumped spiking the ball down causing a stunned silence to fall through the gymnasium. 

“What was that?” Someone from the Nekoma team questioned.

A quick glance to their coach saw him sending an evil smug look towards the Nekoma coaches. Even Takeda had a smug look on his face. Tanaka was up next and he managed to also give a serve with a good arc which the Nekoma team received and Yamamato spiked at them. Nishinoya received it and the group jumped to block Shouyou as he jumped.

Then they seem surprised when the ball flew to Asahi who spiked it scoring them another point.

**-Pov Shift: Keishin Ukai-**

“I don’t like this,” he spoke to Takeda.

“What’s the matter?” Takeda questioned.

“It’s like they could be waiting to see how it goes, as if they’re observing us or something,” Keishin spoke as they watched the game unfold before them, the two teams going back and forth trading spikes and receives.

Takeda paused, “But that’s fine right? After all, we are observing them as well.”

Keishin nodded, “Yes, but.. I’m not sure if it will be enough.”

The two fell silent and Sugawara took the time to explain more about the libero’s position to Takeda.

As the score went to 12 and 9 in Karasuno's favor the Nekoma coach called for a time out.

The team gathered around, “Alright, so far we have the momentum, but I have a feeling that Nekoma has thought of something to counter Hinata’s quick. Hinata, what about your observations?”

Hinata looked at them, “Kenma, their setter, he was watching us closely, I think he will be the one who comes up with the counter, though I don’t know what it could be.” The boy answered with a smile.

Hinata always seemed to be smiling, even when there didn’t seem to be any reason to, but still… “I think it’s time you show them that spiking that quick is not your only skill.”

The orange haired boy’s eyes widened, “I can resume my guess blocking?” He questioned.

Keishin nodded, giving a grin that showed a bit too much teeth, “You should be able to read their movements by now, right?”

“Right!” Hinata agreed.

“Then block them!”

The time out ended and the teams returned to their positions. It had been part of his strategy, to have Hinata not guess block from the start and to just watch and do normal read blocking until the first time out, the end of the first set, or until he had a solid bead on their movements.

He watched as the game continued and it seemed that the opponents had a dedicated shift, at first it seemed to stop Asahi, but then he saw it was forcing Hinata to one side of the court where one blocker would run to match him.

Still, it was clear to see that Hinata was surprising them. He would be at one end of the court and the next moment he would be jumping up right in front of a spiker and slamming the ball down scoring them a point.

“Ha! That number 10 of yours is actually pretty good with guess blocking!” Nekomata called over to him.

Keishin just gave a smug look to his grandpa’s rival. Truly Hinata’s ability to guess block was a plus, if the boy wasn’t good at that he didn’t know if just having the quick was enough of a reason to have the boy on the court. Yet, the boy was rapidly improving, from what he gathered the boy hadn’t been able to make any proper receives or serves when he first joined, but now he was able to get the ball in, and get the ball up.

Watching the game was interesting, especially when Nekoma’s setter went to do a dump and Hinata shot it down, the look of surprise on Nekoma’s setter face was definitely something for the memory books.

Soon Hinata was switched out with Nishinoya and Tsukishima took the vanguard. Tsukishima started to move to the right but the set went left. He heard his team talk about a feint eye glance. Slowly Nekoma caught up with them, but it was their set point thanks to Hinata’s blocks. Yet, their number seven had started to catch up to Hinata’s movements and was able to block the last one, getting Nekoma to 23, if they got one more point it would be at deuce.

They received the ball and Kageyama tossed it to Asahi, getting the final point needed for them to win the first set.

During the break Hinata told Kageyama that he wanted to figure out a way to get past the blocker. Kageyama seemed hesitant, but Keishin agreed and told him to keep sending tossed to Hinata.

He knew they would lose some points this way, but it was a practice match, the best time to figure out ways against the opponents. It didn’t take long for him to see Hinata trying to control the ball instead of just hitting whatever Kageyama tossed. Yet, Kageyama’s tosses were a bit too straight, Hinata needed a more indirect approach. 

So Keishin called for a timeout and told Kageyhama to give an indirect delivery and the boy nodded.

It didn’t take many tosses after that for Hinata to start being able to somewhat direct the ball’s movements in order to avoid the blocks. Keishin watched amazed as Hinata seemed to move even faster, and the look on his face faded away from his normal slightly concentrating face to one of intense focus.

The look that made the other team shiver, the look of a monster. Hinata’s movements seemed to become cleaner, faster, his jumps higher and his spikes more powerful as he and Kageyama slowly but surely matched up.

Even still the other teams #7 was still keeping up, always there to block Hinata, but the reverse was also true, whenever #7 Would be gettin a toss Hinata was also there blocking him. 

Then #7 went to the back and the captain of the Nekoma team moved to the front. Where he saw him say something to Kageyama and rile the setter up. Then they had a quick attack and then a time difference attack.

And now Nekomata was oozing smugness from his seat on the other side, glancing over he saw the coach sending him a mocking grin.

“Grrr,” He growled seeing that, he really wanted to wipe that smug grin off of Nekomata’s face. 

Takeda looked at him, “What should we do? Since #1 moved up to the vanguard… it’s like their attacks give off a feel of experience.” And they were slowly gaining more and more points.

“Experience is a good way to put it, if we were to put this into levels, our team would be close to level one, while there's would be closer to level 10 or 20.”

“In other words, there team is like a full grown cat and ours is a newborn crow chick.”

“That about sums it up. No matter how much we struggle, right now we have no chance in terms of defensive and offensive diversity. Since we don’t have it yet… we just recklessly sink our teeth in!” He stood up pointing at the team as he shouted, “Hit ‘em hard with power and speed!”

Tanaka grinned, his face darkening in delight, “You want us to knock ‘em down with brute force?”

Hinata smirked, his eyes going wider switching his face from being unsettling, to being creepy, “Alright Coach!”

Yamaguchi from the side looked nervous, “That… seems kind of evil Coach…”

Keishin gave a friendly smile, “Nothing wrong with being a little evil,” His grin turned sharp, “Besides Crows are kinda evil anyways.”

“Ukai-kun… your face is kinda scary,” Takeda muttered from next to him.

He laughed and clapped the teacher on his back as he turned back to his team, “Your quick strikes and receives may be clumsy, but you get by them with sheer strength. Right now, that clumsy, rough-around-the-edges quality is your weapon!” He shouted fiercely at the team, seeing determination come across all of their faces, “Using all the weapons you’ve got right now, attack! Attack! Don’t let up!”

They managed to almost catch up, but in the end Nekoma still won the second set. Now it was down to the final set and both teams looked determined to win.

Keishin watched as the team attacked with everything they had, Hinata and Kageyama’s normal quick coming along well. As well as the rest of the team slowly improving and learning to work together.

They still lost the third set.

Hinata asked for another game and Nekomata agreed. Two more lost sets. Another game and two more losses. It seemed they had only managed to win the first set by surprise. Hinata was going to ask for another, shocking the Nekomata coach with how much stamina he had.

Keishin firmly said no saying they still needed time to go home. Nekomata just smiled and told them that they should meet at nationals. Nekomata’s words seemed to hype his team up and they all gained a determined expression, then the two coaches went to the opposing teams to give advice.

**-Pov Shift: Shouyou Hinata-**

Nekoma’s coach, who introduced himself as Nekomata Yasufumi, told them that they were rough around the edges, but that they would probably be really good once they learned to connect.

And then the teams were saying goodbye to each other, Tanaka and Yamamoto calling each other friends. Kageyama stalking Kenma and making the boy nervous. Kuroo was switching between glaring at Kageyama and smiling at him. At least until Daichi went over to him.

He watched as Ukai and the other Nekoma coach gripped hands and he could almost hear the bones cracking. Shouyou ended up talking with Kenma about how next time he would make the boy say something other than volleyball being just alright.

Soon everyone started heading off gathering back into their groups, but first Kuroo walked over to him, “Hey, I just wanted to say that was some awesome guess blocking you did… though your normal blocks could use a bit of work.”

Shouyou gave a nod, “I’ll work on them then!”

“Also, if Kageyama ever hurts you, tell me, alright?”

Shouyou tilted his head, “Why do you think Kageyama is a bully?”

“He called you names and physically hurt you, that is the first signs of a bully.”

“But… it’s just his way of friendship, and besides, why should being called a name bother me?”

A worried look filled Kuroo’s eyes, “How often do kids insult you?”

He didn’t really understand why Kuroo was asking but still wanted to answer as honestly as possible, “Insults I took offense to? Or just insulting me in general?”

“In general.”

“Um… everyday I guess? Or they did, Kageyama is really the only one who calls me names anymore.”

Kuroo’s entire face went soft, gazing at him with something that might be pity or was it worry? “You poor child,” He stated his hand going over to ruffle his hair.

Shouyou became even more confused, “Eh?”

“Come on Kuroo! We’re leaving,” One of the Nekoma players shouted.

Kuroo smiled at him, “I’ll text you later!”

Hesitantly Shouyou nodded, unsure of what was going on anymore as Kuroo left. Shouyou walked over to his team who looked at him. 

“What was all that about?” Suga questioned.

At the same time Daichi asked, “He didn’t hurt you did he?”

“No, he didn’t hurt me. I don’t really know, he just told me to let him know if Kageyama hurt me, but then when I said I don’t mind he suddenly asked how often kids insulted me,” Shouyou told them, wondering if they could provide insight into the strange conversation. 

Both Daichi and Suga blinked and shared a glance between themselves. “Walk with us,” Daichi stated as the three of them slowed down so they walked a bit behind the rest of the group as they returned to the school.

“Are you being bullied Hinata?” Suga asked, his voice worried.

He shook his head, “No, maybe the other kids used to try, but it doesn’t bother me.”

“What did they call you?”

Shouyou shrugged, “Monster, Idiot, shorty, those kinds of things, it’s not a big deal.”

The two shared another glance, “I thought you don’t like being called short.”

“It’s annoying mainly, and only really from Volleyball players that it really annoys me, like they think I’m not aware of the face? But, it just means they will underestimate me.”

“Why would they call you a monster? You are one of the nicest guys I know.”

“It’s mainly kids who knew me from my elementary school, I mainly got the nickname because of who my friend was, since the other classmates called him a demon. But, I didn’t mind because it meant they recognized that we were friends.”

“You sound like you really admire your friend.”

Shouyou nodded, “Yeah! He has taught me so much, I learned guess blocking from him.”

“Does your friend still play?”

Shouyou gave a nod, “Yeah, you might recognize him, his name is Satori Tendou.”

Daichi blinked, “Hmm, the name sounds a bit familiar, but… I don’t know him off the top of my head.”

Suga nodded, agreeing with Daichi.

“Still that’s good that you have such a great friend. And Hinata, let us know if something Kageyama does bothers you, we’re working with him, but he is a bit of an idiot when it comes to friendships.”

“Alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: I’m busy later today, so I’m posting this a bit early.   
> Word Count: 2306  
> Date Written: 3/11/20  
> Date Posted: 3/15/20


	8. Mother Hen’s, Senpai’s and Preparing

The team got back and they were told that it would be less than a month till they were going to the interhigh preliminaries. “So rest up this weekend, when we come back we will be hard at work improving your guys overall skills.”

With that they were dismissed to return home after the one week of living at the school’s training camp facility. The next morning he woke up, blinking slowly as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Sitting up he unplugged his phone from the charge and checked his messages. He got a few from Oikawa, asking about his match against Nekoma, a message from Satori, also asking the same. He typed out a response and just sent the same message to both of them.

He also got a message from Kenma.

[ _ Whatever you said to Kuroo got his mother hen mode activated, you’ll never be free of him now.] _

[?]

Was all that Shouyou sent back, not understanding what a ‘mother hen’ mode was. Yawning he got out of bed and started getting ready for the day, only pausing when his phone buzzed. Checking he saw it was a message from Kuroo.

_ [Good Morning!] _

_ [How are you today?] _

_ [Is everything okay?] _

_ [Have you had breakfast yet?] _

[Good morning. I’m fine. Why wouldn’t everything be okay? I was about to eat breakfast.]

Shouyou answered the flurry of questions. He walked downstairs and made himself a bowl of cereal, ignoring his phone for a moment as it buzzed only a moment after he sent his message.

[ _ no reason, just want to make sure!] _

_ [Make sure you tell me if anyone hurts you] _

_ [Are you eating a good breakfast?] _

[I will. Yes, my cereal is quite good.]

[ _ Not what I meant by good, I meant healthy, you need to eat healthy in order to support proper muscle development!] _

Shouyou shifted in his seat, feeling like Kuroo was scolding him. Could someone be scolded through text? He frowned and wondered what Kuroo meant by a good breakfast.

[What do you think a proper breakfast should be then?]

_ [Fruits, a whole grain, and some healthy proteins are good for a breakfast.] _

[Alright.]

Shouyou didn’t know if he should change his breakfast eating or not, while on one hand Coach Ukai did tell them that eating a proper meal after volleyball was important he never mentioned anything about a proper breakfast. Maybe he should ask the coach. His phone buzzed again and sighing he checked it to see what Kuroo sent this time, only to see it was a message from Oikawa asking if he wanted to meet up at the park to practice volleyball.

So he agreed, rolling his eyes at the emoji’s. He finished his cereal and got dressed for volleyball, when he returned downstairs Natsu and his Mother were up eating their own breakfast. “I’m heading out, I’ll be back later.”

“Alright,” His mother agreed.

So he hopped on his bike and travelled to the park, meeting Oikawa who continued helping him with his serves. He was now starting to learn to control them and getting them where he wanted to land. Shouyou still didn’t know why the grand king was helping him, or why the older boy wanted to claim him as his Kohai.

_ “He was my Senpai at Kitagawa Daiichi.”  _ Shouyou remembered Kageyama saying, and that the setter also said that Oikawa,  _ “He also has an incredibly bad personality.” _

Honestly Shouyou didn’t see Oikawa having a bad personality, but maybe that was just because Oikawa was hiding it? Still… if Kageyama considered Oikawa his senpai, then he would be Oikawa’s kohai. _ “Yep! I can’t claim you as my official kohai without you being able to do awesome jump serves~!”  _ The grand king had said. 

Official kohai.

_ “...I learned to serve and block by watching him, he’s a force to be reckoned with.” _

Oh. It was so clear now. Oikawa had never officially taught Kageyama, instead Kageyama had learned it by watching Oikawa. So when Oikawa said that Shouyou would be his official kohai it was meant as an insult to Kageyama.

“Heyo~ Chibi-chan~” The grand king called out waving a hand in front of Shouyou’s face.

“Huh?” Shouyou said blinking as he focused back on his surroundings.

“You spaced out on me,” Oikawa pouted.

“Sorry, I just was figuring out why you wanted me to be your official kohai.”

“Oh? You think you figured it out~?”

Shouyou nodded.

“Want to make a bet on it?”

“What are the terms?”

“If you guess right, I’ll treat you to lunch, if you win you treat me to lunch,” Oikawa said, giving a victory sign.

“Alright,” Shouyou agreed, pausing for a moment as he gathered his thoughts, “You decided to train me as a way to get at Kageyama.”

Oikawa blinked, “You really think I would do something so mean~?”

Shouyou shrugged, “It seemed the most likely answer, and it would be kinda funny.”

A sly grin spread across Oikawa’s face, “Oh? Why would you think it was funny?”

“Imagining Kageyama’s reaction to the fact that you have been helping me.”

Oikawa chuckled, “Ah Chibi-chan~ I think that we might actually be good friends. I need someone to help me combat Iwa-chan’s evil ways!”

“Huh?” Shouyou was suddenly thrown for a loop.

“Don’t worry about it Chibi-chan, I’m going to be an awesome Senpai for you!”

“Ok,” Shouyou stated. He paused for a moment, “You never actually said I was wrong.”

“Nope, looks like I owe you lunch now, so where do you want to go?”

“There's a sandwich place around here that I spotted that looks interesting.”

“Let’s go then!” Oikawa said and the two set out to the nearby sandwich shop. The two ate and chatted, well it was mostly Oikawa who pointed out people passing by on the street and made guesses about things they did or liked. After pointing out each detail he also explained why he thought that, and then asked whether Shouyou agreed or disagreed.

The two spent a good hour like that before they returned to practicing volleyball, working on serves. Everytime that Shouyou managed to hit a bottle he was aiming at Oikawa would reward him by tossing to him.

It was a good system, and by the end of the day he was hitting 3 out of 10 bottles when he wanted, and 5 of them were usually close while only 2 out of 10 were completely off from his target.

They agreed to meet up at the sandwich cafe tomorrow in order to do some studying and catch up on homework before practicing again. He returned home checking his phone he saw he had a few messages from throughout the day from Kuroo. Mostly just him asking how he was doing and how his day was going.

So he responded telling the older boy he was fine and that he had been practicing. He made sure to eat a good dinner and the next morning he woke up and got breakfast, frowning for a moment before grabbing an apple to go along with his cereal. Once again he had received a bunch of text messages from Kuroo asking how he was.

Shouyou wasn’t going to lie. It was kinda nice, almost like an actual mother. His mother never really asked him if he was eating a proper breakfast, or about how his day had been, but it was fine since she was always busy and didn’t have much time to spend with both him and Natsu. 

Seeing as neither Natsu or his mother were up he wrote a note before he headed out. He arrived a bit early to the cafe and decided to order a couple drinks, one for him and one for Oikawa. It was about ten minutes later when the boy arrived spotting him and walking over, “Good morning Chibi-chan~” The grand king greeted him.

“Good Morning.”

The two pulled out their school work and began to study. After a few hours they ordered a couple snack and continued on. By lunch the two finished there studying and ate a decent lunch before going to practice volleyball some more. By the end of the day he had improved a little bit, but not as much as yesterday.

In the middle of their practice Oikawa’s phone rang and he picked up a call. “Yo~ Iwa-chan!”

“Ah! I’m sorry I forgot!”

“Erm… practicing with my kohai?”

“So mean Iwa-chan~” Oikawa cried out with a pout.

“Alright alright! No need to yell... my poor ear~”

“I’ll buy you ramen to make up for it Iwa-chan,” Oikawa finally said giving a sigh. 

“Alright, bye~” With that he hung up the phone.

Oikawa turned to him rubbing the back of his head, “I may have forgotten I was supposed to meet with Iwa-chan today. Now he’s making me buy him ramen.”

Shouyou just nodded and the two continued to practice. He returned home, cooked and ate a dinner and then headed off to bed. The next morning he decided to head off Kuroo’s texts by messaging him his answers to the questions Kuroo had asked both the previous mornings. Kuroo still messaged him a good morning and a thumbs up emoji.

Then he went off to school for the morning practice where he asked the coach about a proper breakfast. Ukai seemed surprised and asked why Shouyou was asking.

“Well, Kuroo-san says I need to eat a proper breakfast and that cereal doesn’t count.”

“Kuroo…?” The coach questioned a puzzled expression on his face, as if he was trying to remember who that was.

“Nekoma’s captain,” Shouyou supplied.

“He’s messaging you?”

“Yes, as with Kenma.”

“Why?” Ukai asked frowning.

“Ah… Kuroo came under the impression Hinata was being bullied,” Daichi answered coming into the conversation.

Ukai blinked, “Really?”

Daichi nodded, “I’ll fill you in on the details later, but it seems that Kuroo has become protective of Hinata.”

“Okay, anyways back to your question Hinata, you should eat a good breakfast, actually this is something all of you guys should learn. I’ll give a lesson about it this afternoon, alright?”

“Ok,” Shouyou responded nodding and returning to the morning practice.

At lunch he once more texted Oikawa with questions he had, especially since his english class had started a huge project regarding the book sherlock holmes. Kuroo also asked him how his day was and Shouyou responded with a good.

The school day ended and he headed over to the club room and changed before heading to the gym where before they warmed up the coach gave them a lesson on eating to help develop muscle growth.

Then they got to work on practicing, again it was mostly drill receives, but they also went back to working on other stuff, making sure their skills didn’t degrade.

Time started to pass by quickly as Shouyou got into a schedule of waking up, messaging Kuroo, Satori, Kenma and Oikawa in the morning before heading to school where he would do his best to pay attention. Then at lunch he would message Oikawa and Kuroo before returning to classes. After the afternoon practice was over he would go home and eat a proper dinner before going to sleep.

His weekend consisted of spending time with Oikawa, except on sunday when Satori said he would be dropping by so the two could spend some time together.

Another week passed and that Friday Shouyou spotted Suga, Asashi, Tanaka, and Noya gathered around a magazine. He walked over Kageyama trailing behind as he asked them what they were looking at. “The top high school players who are especially notable. Shiratorizawa’s Ushijima is one of them.”

Shouyou blinked, “He is? Huh.”

Tanaka looked surprised, “You don’t know him?”

“Oh, no I know him, I just didn’t know he was a really good player.”

Tanaka gaped, “How could you know of him and not know he is a good player?!”

The rest of the group looked at him, “I met him.”

Noya and Tanaka’s mouths fell open, “You MET him?”

“Erm, yeah?”

“How?!” They demanded, “Did you just like meet him on the street or something?”

He shook his head, “No, my best friend is friends with him and when I went over to his house Ushijima happened to be there, it was a complete coincidence.”

“Still, it’s really cool you got to meet him!”

Shouyou tilted his head a bit, if they were this excited about him just meeting the ace, then he probably shouldn’t tell them he got to practice a bit with him, Tanaka and Noya might get heart attacks.

“He wouldn’t give a good impression of our school,” Tsukishima stated raising an eyebrow.

“ _ You have potential,” _ Ushijima’s words rang in his head, and he kept silent, deciding that it wasn’t worth responding to Tsukishima.

As they were speaking Daichi came over and looked at the magazine from over Shouyou’s shoulder, “Hrmmm, He’s really got that whole ‘Ace’ feeling to him,” Daichi spoke before looking over his shoulder at Akashi with an expression of disapproval.

“Hey! Why are you looking over here?!” Asahi shouted, gaining a nervous expression.

Daichi rolled his eyes and then he and Suga started tag teaming teasing Kageyama. Coach Ukai, upon hearing them discussing Shiratorizawa said that they weren’t the only ones to look out for and then spoke about some of the other top schools. From Wakutani and Dateko, to Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa. He warned them not to think of the future and focus on the match ahead of them, and that they shouldn’t let the other schools call them flightless crows any longer.

Then Takeda came in, telling them about their match ups, and the team pumped themselves up to have to face Dateko and Aoba Johsai. The coach once more warned them about looking too far ahead, and with that he dismissed them for the weekend. They only had two weeks left till they would be playing in the interhigh preliminaries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: So another chapter. And Yeah. Mother Hen Kuroo.  
> Word Count: 2332  
> Date Written: 3/12/20  
> Date Posted: 3/16/20


	9. Iwaizumi, Goshiki, 2 v 2

That Saturday he went over to Satori’s house, this time invited as his friend complained about the fact they hadn’t seen each other much. So he texted Oikawa saying he was meeting with another friend today. 

He rode his bike over and was only a few streets away when he heard a shout, “CHIBI-CHAN!” the familiar voice yelled out.

Shouyou braked and looked behind him to see Oikawa running at him, a look of… panic(?!) on his face. “Protect me!” The older boy said ducking behind him. It earned them strange looks from some of the random passerbyers.

Another person growled, “Shittykawa! Don’t hide behind the short kid!” He looked kinda familiar, and Shouyou figured the guy was probably part of the practice match.

Shouyou frowned, and glanced at Oikawa who gave him a grin, “That’s Iwa-chan.”

“Oh! They guy who is really mean to you?” Shouyou said in realization turning to keep an eye on this Iwa person.

“Wait, you two know each other?” ‘Iwa’ questioned pausing in his approach.

Oikawa nodded, “Chibi-chan is my adorable kohai!”

Iwa’s eye twitched, “Really now…?” His voice had taken a darkening tone.

“Scary…” Shouyou whispered, “I see what you mean by evil now.”

“What lies have you been telling this poor kid?” Iwa said, shaking his head. “It’s Oikawa you have to be wary of.”

Shouyou crossed his arms, “People keep saying it, but I don’t see it.”

By this point Oikawa had stood back up and was giving a smug grin. Iwa shook his head, “You poor child, I will just have to protect you from Oikawa’s evil ways.”

Shouyou blinked tilting his head, “What’s your name anyways?” Iwa asked.

“Hinata Shouyou,” He responded.

“I’m Iwaizumi Hajime,” The brown haired boy stated.

‘Ah, so Iwa wasn’t his name after all.’ Shouyou thought.

“Now excuse me while I beat some sense into this fool,” Iwaizumi stated, continuing to make his way towards Oikawa who warily took a step back, a nervous expression on his face.

The boys paused as something caught their attention. It was Ushijima. The Ace looked at all of them. “Oikawa,” Ushijima greeted nodding at the setter before looking at him, “Hinata.” The quiet ace didn’t even bother to greet Iwaizumi.

“Ushijima,” Oikawa said flatly as he and Iwaizumi stood side by side staring at the ace.

“Hello Ushijima-san,” Shouyou greeted, giving a friendly smile.

“You know him Chibi-chan?” Oikawa asked in surprise. 

“Yes? We’ve met before. Anyways, I got to go, my friend is waiting for me,” Shouyou said, trying to extract himself from the tense situation. The air between Oikawa and Ushijima was suffocating, as if they would come to blows at any minute.

Ushijima turned away and started walking with him, so Shouyou didn’t hop back onto his bike. After a few steps he asked, “Are you going to Satori’s house as well?”

“Yes,” Ushijima answered.

“So how did the two of you become friends?”

Ushijima shrugged.

“Do you like volleyball?”

“Yes.”

“What’s your favorite part?”

“Spiking.”

“That’s my favorite part as well, well except when I get a really good block, I don’t think anything is better than seeing the shock on an opponent's face when they realized I completely blocked them.”

Ushijima just nodded, showing he was listening. The two arrived at Satori’s house and Shouyou walked in, “Hello!” He called out.

“Shouyou-chan,” Satori’s mother greeted with a smile, “Satori is waiting outside, you boys go on and have fun.”

“Alright!” Shouyou said, giving the woman a quick hug before rushing out, Ushijima walking beside him without speaking.

It wasn’t really a bad silence, but it was strange.

“Shouyou! Wakatoshi!” Satori called out rushing over and high fiving Shouyou before lightly punching Ushijima on the shoulder.

“Ushijima-san!” Another voice greeted and Shouyou looked behind Satori to see another boy, one with black hair in a bowl cut.

“Goshiki.” Ushijima greeted.

Satori grinned and dragged Shouyou over, “Tsutomu, this is my best friend Hinata Shouyou, and this is my teammate Goshiki Tsutomu.”

“Nice to meet you!” They both said bowing at each other.

“Both of you would get along great, since both of you want to be an ace!”

The two boys looked at each other and nodded. 

“Anywho! I decided we could have some 2v2 matches!”

Shouyou looked at Satori, knowing his friend must have another reason besides just wanting to play, but unless Satori told him he probably wouldn’t be able to figure it out. “Alright, let’s start with Wakatoshi and Shouyou vs me and Tsutomu.”

The pairs split off, going on either side of the net, because Satori was lucky enough that his family could install a volleyball net in his backyard.

“Nice serve Tsutomu!” Satori called out and the boy gave a jump serve which Ushijima received.

Shouyou got into position and then made a toss to Ushijima, a slight frown that it was a bit too close to the net, but Ushijima still got it. During the last time they had practiced with Satori it was clear that none of them were good at setting a toss. With that point the serve went to them and Ushijima made the serve, scoring them another point.

The next serve Satori managed to receive and Goshiki sent a toss to Satori who tried to spike it, but both Shouyou and Ushijima were there to block it.

The next time Goshiki was the one to spike the ball and scored a point. Satori served and Shouyou received the ball and Ushijima tossed. He spiked the ball past Satori who had been a split second behind.

Now it was time for Shouyou to serve which Goshiki received and Satori sent the toss to Goshiki who spiked it down, making the score 4-2.

Satori served and Ushijima received it and Shouyou sent a toss which Ushijima made a sharp cut spike with. Landing them at 5 points.

“Alright! Let’s switch it up, me and Shouyou versus you two!” Satori said sliding under the net while Ushijima calmly walked around.

The game restarted and it was a completely different dynamic, in the first game both teams made points by blocking and spiking, but with he and Satori they were better at making points by focusing on blocking. And with Shouyou making the recieves so Satori could toss to him, though Ushijima while not having all the technique to blocking still made up for it with height.

If this was a normal game they would have ended up at deuces, but Satori stated they were just playing till 5 points before switching up the teams. In the end Ushijima managed to hit 5 first.

Then it was Shouyou and Goshiki and the two had to figure out how to work together and what sort of tosses the other liked, though with neither of them being good at tossing it didn’t really matter.

They ended up losing 3-5.

Satori’s mother, Subarashii, called them in for a lunch and the boys eagerly ate before going back out to play some more.

The group continued on like that for a few hours switching frequently and after that first loop they started giving advice to each other, things that they could work on, from Satori and him they gave blocking advice. Ushijima was mostly silent, but occasionally spoke to them about hitting the ball harder.

Goshiki was the one who showed him a move called a time delayed attack, though it wasn’t really something that could be implemented without a setter who knows what you're doing. Shouyou was pretty happy and remembered seeing Kuroo use the move and just how effective it was.

Eventually Subarashii called them in again for an afternoon snack, and the group ate before going to play another few games before it was time for them to start returning home. Shouyou smiled as he rode his bike back to his house, he had a great time with Satori and the other’s.

The next day it was back to meeting with Oikawa. Shouyou entered and ordered a couple drinks and waited for Oikawa. About half an hour later the boy came in looking disgruntled as a smug Iwaizumi was next to him.

“Iwa-chan wouldn’t stop following me~” Oikawa groaned with a pout as he flopped into his chair grabbing his beverage.

“You think I am going to leave you alone with Karasuno’s shorty?” Iwaizumi responded in a disbelieving tone, “I know you have some sort of secret motivation.”

Oikawa smirked, “Chibi-chan, why don’t you inform Iwa-chan~ about my secret motivation!”

“Alright,” Shouyou agreed, looking at Iwaizumi who raised an eyebrow, “He is helping me to piss of Kageyama.”

Iwaizumi stared for a moment before his head fell to the table. “Of course he is,” The boy held that position for a moment before sitting back up. “So, you just told him your motivation?” He questioned disbelievingly at Oikawa.

“Nope! Chibi-chan figured it out all by himself~” Oikawa told Iwaizumi, his voice holding a note of pride.

Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes at Oikawa, “What else do you have planned?”

“What makes you think I have anything else planned?” Oikawa questioned, seemingly shocked that Iwaizumi would even suggest something like that. 

“You sound too happy about Hinata-kun figuring it out all by himself,” Iwaizumi stated.

Shouyou looked between the two and then shrugged leaning back to enjoy the conversation between the two.

“It’s not my fault~, Chibi-chan just reminds me of myself when I was younger... I can’t help but to be proud of him.”

Iwaizumi gaped, “How could he remind you of yourself? He acts nothing like you.”

“Says the guy who doesn’t even know me,” Shouyou muttered before taking a sip of his drink. His mutter wasn’t quite enough though as both Oikawa and Iwaizumi turned to him, Oikawa quickly giving a look at Iwaizumi who just looked between the two of them and groaned burying his face into his arms.

“What have I gotten myself into?”

Shouyou flushed, “Erm… sorry…”

Iwaizumi looked up, “it’s fine, how often do you and Oikawa talk?”

“Everyday,” Shouyou answered honestly.

The male pursed his lips and sighed, “Why do you have to be such a pain shittykawa?”

“Hey!” Oikawa shouted, pouting.

“May I see your phone for a moment Hinata-kun?” Iwaizumi asked.

Shouyou nodded handing over his phone and said, “You don’t have to add the suffix.”

Iwaizumi nodded. “Text me if you need something, or if this idiot is bothering you,” he said, handing the phone back.

“The Grand king has never bothered me before,” Shouyou informed.

That was an eyebrow twitch, Iwaizumi pinched his nose, “Why? Just… why? Does Oikawa look like someone who needs their ego stroked even more?”

Shouyou just shrugged, “He calls me Chibi-chan, I call him Grand King. It’s just a nickname.”

“I give up,” Iwaizumi groaned.

Oikawa and Shouyou pulled out their school work and started to do the homework, discussing things with each other. Shouyou’s grades had started improving by quite a bit, raising from the 30’s and 40’s to the 60’s and low 70’s. Apparently now that he was forcing himself to pay attention in class he was actually remembering some of the information. Though it always seemed that whatever Oikawa told him also stuck around.

After they finished their homework and ate lunch they went to start practicing serves. Shouyou’s control was starting to become decent enough that over half the balls hit the target.

All too soon the day came to an end and they went their separate ways. Just two more weeks, and if they won against two schools and Aoba Johsai won they would face off against each other.

He looked forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: Yeah, Iwaizumi finally makes his appearance.  
> Word Count: 1945  
> Date Written: 3/12/20  
> Date Posted: 3/17/20


	10. Quality time with Club Members

On Monday during individual practices he went over to Daichi, the captain smiled at him, “Hello Hinata.”

Shouyou nodded and shifted before asking, “What is it like being captain?”

Daichi looked at him with a questioning look in his eyes, “What brings this on?”

Shouyou gave a shrug, not wanting to explain that he knew 3 other captains and was curious. Well that would probably suffice, “I was curious.”

Daichi gave a thoughtful hum, “Well, it’s like being the pillar for the team, somebody that the other’s have trust in and who can control the team, a person can’t be a good captain if the other members don’t respect them. Being a captain means being able to motivate the team, to give them hope when they are feeling down.”

Shouyou stared listening intently as Daichi described what being a captain meant. He gave a bright smile as Daichi finished up, “You fit the bill perfectly.”

Daichi chukled, “Thank you, now off to practice with you!”

“Yes sir!”

The next day he was practicing when Tanaka walked over to him, “Heey, Hinata!”

“Hello Tanaka-Senpai!” He replied grinning back.

He nearly laughed at how much Tanaka puffed up, Shouyou had thought that he and Noya would have gotten used to it by now, but the two still seemed to love being called senpai. “What did you need?” He questioned as Tanaka stood there just grinning off into space.

“Oh, I wanted to see if my favorite first year would be willing to help me with something,” Tanaka said grinning.

“What is it?”

“I want to play a prank on one of the teachers, but I need someone to keep lookout for me.”

“Doesn’t Noya usually help you?”

“Yes, but he actually likes this teacher and won’t prank them. Please, will you help me?”

“Sure, when?”

“Tomorrow during lunch. Thanks Hinata, I owe you one!” Tanaka told him grinning as he went off to continue his individual practice.

So the following day, right as lunch started he texted Oikawa, telling him that he was helping one of his teammates with something and so couldn’t do the normal study session. Then he went off to meet up with Tanaka in the second year hallway. “Alright whistle if you see a female teacher with blonde hair up in a bun.”

Tanaka went into the room and Shouyou stood outside leaning against the wall. Five minutes passed before Tanaka came back out holding a cup with a string attached as he closed the door most of the way before stretching up and carefully balancing the cup on the seal of the door.

“Let’s get out of here and eat lunch.”

So the two quickly went off and sat down, eating their lunches, “So what was the prank?”

“That cup is filled with extremely sticky goo. Ms. Fukaina is always the first one in and when she enters the cup will fall on her head.”

Shouyou shared a snicker with Tanaka as the two finished lunch.

The rest of the day passed normally.

Practice the next day was rough as the coach made them perfectly receive 5 balls in a row before moving on. If you messed up your count reset. Noya, wonderful Libero as he was didn’t need more than 5 balls.

Daichi messed up only once on his second ball so had to do 7 balls total. Others like him and Tsukishima who weren’t good at receives took forever to get through their turns. After the brutal team practice was over he went to go continue practice his receives, Kageyama practicing his power serves.

He paused though as he heard the sounds of argument, as much of the club did as they saw Tanaka and Noya glaring at each other. Shouyou shifted, having a feeling it had something to do with the prank from yesterday. 

Daichi started over there and Shouyou was going to do his best to ignore it when he heard Tanaka say his name, did his senpai just throw him under the bus? If Tanaka did that he was totally going to revoke Tanaka’s senpai status.

Shouyou gulped as Noya headed over towards him an angry look still in his eyes. He was about to bolt when Noya finished the last bit of distance and grabbed his shoulder, keeping him from running, “You’re helping me with a prank tomorrow, then I’ll forgive you for helping Tanaka.”

He gave a rapid nod, “Alright!”

Noya’s grin was vicious, “Good.”

A shiver ran down his body.

That night he texted his misfortune to Kuroo, Oikawa, and Satori. After a moment of debate he added Iwaizumi to the list, figuring that he should probably actually text him.

The reactions he got varied, from Kuroo’s message of not letting them push him into doing something he didn’t want to do, but to also have fun and not get caught. To Satori’s message of pranking both of them with a list of several prank ideas. Oikawa just laughed, saying that he should have expected it.

Iwaizumi texted about being reminded of Matsuwaka and Hanamaki, who were apparently some of their teammates.

The next morning Noya pulled him aside before the first classes started and told him they were pranking Tanaka, by going to his classes during lunch and changing the grades on his paper to a different grade, whatever they could manage. Shouyou would once again be lookout as Noya looked for all the papers.

So Shouyou once again messaged Oikawa, saying he was helping Noya with his revenge prank. Oikawa just sent him a good luck message with a couple happy face emojis.

He kept an eye out, giving a soft whistle when a teacher occasionally walked by. And then giving another whistle when the coast was clear. Lunch was almost over when Noya finally exited and the two made a quick getaway.

That afternoon Ennoshita pulled him, Tanaka, and Noya aside, a disappointed look on his expression that instantly had Tanaka and Noya shrinking down a bit, Shouyou who didn’t know the second year too well just shuffled a bit.

Ennoshita’s voice started quiet and soft as he looked at the three of them, but the longer he went on the sterner he got until Tanaka and Noya were begging for forgiveness and Shouyou was looking down feeling ashamed. Ennoshita had that quite disappointed feel to him, like a beloved parent who you wanted to make proud.

The three of them didn’t cause any trouble the rest of the week and just did their practices a bit more subdued than normal.

He was still a bit down that weekend, until he met up with Oikawa, and Iwaizumi who had invited himself along. “Your texts have been awfully short the past few days Chibi-chan~ you didn’t even tell me what happened with the prank you pulled on your friend.”

“Apparently Ennoshita was in the same class as Tanaka and realized the prank almost instantly. He then went to scold us.”

“Who is this Ennoshita? I don’t remember him.”

“A second year, he played in the practice match we had.”

Oikawa’s expression glazed over, “There was you and Kageyama, the bald spiker, four eyes, and that captain of yours... “ His eyes cleared up, “Those are the only ones I remember.”

Shouyou stifled a chuckle, “That was only five people, you… you completely forgot about Ennoshita.”

Oikawa gaped, mumbling the players he remembered as he counted on his fingers.

_ On the way to his house Ennoshita frowned, he felt like he was being left out somehow. Which was strange, he was by himself so why would he feel left out? Were Kinoshita and Narita doing something without him? _

“How could I just forget someone?”

“Because you’re an asshole,” Iwaizumi helpfully supplied.

“So mean~ If you’re just going to be mean to me you can leave,” Oikawa said, sticking his tongue out at Iwaizumi.

“Nah, I got to make sure you’re not being a bad influence on Hinata.”

“Why are you worried about me when Chibi-chan hangs out with that bastard Ushijima?”

“Um, we’ve only met twice, and it’s because we both have the same friend who invited us over.”

Oikawa and Iwaizumi turned to him, “Ushijima has a friend?” Oikawa questioned, surprised.

“Who you are also friends with?”

“Yes.”

“So, who is this mysterious friend of yours?” Iwaizumi questioned while Oikawa made an ‘o’ face as realization hit him.

“You’re friends with Shiratorizawa’s guess blocker, aren’t you? What was his name… ten- ten something.”

“Tendou Satori, and yes, he has been my best friend since elementary school.”

“That explains your skill in guess blocking.”

After that the three did school work and then practiced. Soon the weekend had passed and he was returning to school. At lunch he was texting Oikawa about the sherlock holmes book, trying to understand what was going on because English was hard when someone sat next to him. 

Looking over he blinked as he saw Asahi, “Hey Asahi, what’s up?

Asahi shifted looking a bit nervous as he gave a small smile, “Ah, it’s just… this is probably nothing…” Asahi looked like he was about to leave.

“Hey, it’s alright, is something wrong?”

“No. I just… you pass by my house when you bike home on the weekends,” Asahi stated, which started to explain what was going on.

“You’re worried about me biking home so late?” Shouyou guessed.

Asahi nodded.

“That’s nice of you to worry about me, but I’m fine, I just get carried away and forget to check the time a lot.”

The older boy seemed a bit relieved, “That’s good, um, make sure you stay safe.”

“Alright, take care Asahi!” He said waving to the boy as Asahi left the room.

Practice was even more grueling as the coach forced them to make 10 perfect receives. In a row. Shouyou was pretty sure that he would have done a lot worse if he hadn’t gotten the chance to receive a few of Ushijima’s powerful serves, and gotten tips from Goshiki on how to receive them.

Apparently he surprised his teammates by receiving the ‘hard’ serve from coach Ukai. He just told them that he had been working on his receives, which was true, his receives and his serves were the only two real things Shouyou focused on. Though he of course made sure to touch up on all his other skills so they wouldn’t get rusty.

The next day Kageyama dragged him off to work on their normal quick and freak quick for the entire duration of individual practice. The only surprising thing about this was how long it took for Kageyama to drag him off, and the fact that Kageyama didn’t once insult him for no reason.

The following day the coach had him work with Tsukishima on his read blocking, listening to the boy insult his skills was annoying.

He was doing his best to ignore him until the boy said this comment, “How did you even become good at guess blocking if you can’t even notice where the ball is flying? Did you have to beg someone to teach you?”

“You would think you would practice your receives more, since the coach has said that you are the worst one here. And at least I have more than one friend.”

He gave one of his ‘creepy’ smiles as Tsukishima glared at him. Then he decided to go in for the kill, “You may be a better read blocker, but I am a better blocker in general, after all I stop the ball more than you do.”

Tsukishima seemed to become absolutely livid as his face seemed to become set in stone and he took a step forward. “Tsukki!” Yamaguchi called out running over and pulling his friend away.

The next morning Yamaguchi came over to him apologizing for Tsukki. Shouyou shrugged it off, saying that he would forgive Tsukishima so long as the boy never insinuated that he had to beg to be taught. Yamaguchi just nodded before turning and leaving.

Then it was Friday, the day before the Interhigh preliminaries. The team got some last minute practice in, each of them working hard. during individual practice Shouyou walked over to Suga, the vice captain smiled, “Ah, Hinata, what can I do for you?”

“After the interhigh preliminaries, do you think you could show me the basics of setting?”

Suga looked surprised, “You want to learn setting?”

“Not for actually being a setter, just it might be useful in some situations.”

“Sure, but why aren’t you asking Kageyama.”

“Because he seems like the kind of person who would be bad at teaching.”

Suga gave a chuckle, “True, looks like the coach is calling us over.”

The group of players walked over and the coach gave them a pep talk, but also reminded them to not look ahead because they needed to focus on the match ahead of them. Then he finished up, and they were about to be dismissed when Takeda told them Shimizu had some words to speak to them.

“... I’m not… all that good with…. Words of encouragement, so…” She started looking down a bit as she went over to a box and pulled something out, she and Sensei climbed up the ladder to the balcony.

“One, two..” Takeda said and the two of them flipped over a large banner that slowly seemed unfurl. On it was a simple word: Fly.

The whole team looked at her in amazement, “Who’d have thought we had such a thing!” Suga stated

“I found it while cleaning, so I fixed it up,” Shimizu murmured, just loud enough for them to hear.

Tanaka and Noya were heaping praises on her, showing their affections, but Daichi quieted them down saying she probably wasn’t done.

“Do your best.” Quickly she turned and retreated as everyone stared up at her in shock. Almost as one all the upper years started sobbing, “Shimizu…!”

Kageyama and Shouyou shared a glance, both surprised how all the older years were sobbing, even the captain. Tanaka and Noya weren’t even speaking.

After another few seconds of sobbing Daichi shouted, “We’re definitely going to win that first match!”

“YEAAAH!” They all shouted, becoming pumped up. After another five or so minutes they quieted down.

“Alright, now go home and get some rest, tomorrow… tomorrow we show them that we aren’t the ‘flightless’ crow’s anymore!” Ukai told them, giving an evil grin.

The team nodded and then they left, each of them heading home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: This chapter was going to be Shimizu’s pep talk and then preliminaries, but the other characters were like, “we want to spend time with Hinata on screen.” So here are some moments of the shenanigans that go on daily at the club.  
> Word Count: 2414  
> Date Written: 3/13/20  
> Date Posted: 3/18/20


	11. Arriving and the First Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: It’s about time for the preliminaries! We are quickly catching up to the chapter I am working on. Curse thee Aoba Johsai match.  
> Word Count: 2009  
> Date Written: 3/13/20  
> Date Posted: 3/19/20

Shouyou and the rest of the team sat on the bus in silence as they were driven to the Sendai city gym. The air was thick with anticipation as the members fidgeted, all of them ready to crush whoever stood in front of them.

They were heading to the top, and nothing would stand in their way. They arrived and were about to get off the bus when Coach stood up in front of them. “Now is the time to make an impression on them, show them that these crow’s are not to be messed with. Whatever it takes we will win.”

_ “Nothing wrong with being a little evil, besides crows are kinda evil anyways. _ ” Coach Ukai’s words rang in his head.

Apparently he wasn’t the only one to think that as the air changed, becoming more still and menacing as they nodded. The Coach gave them a toothy grin, “Good. Now let’s get going.”

After that they walked off the bus, all of them wearing intimidating faces. They walked forward to the list and stood behind a few people talking about them. “Now they’ve kinda got this lameass nickname, y’know?”

“Ehh what is it?”

“I’m pretty sure it was… ‘the fallen champions’ and… ‘the flightless crows.’”

The guy not speaking looked around and froze his eyes going wide as he spotted them “Oh crap.”

Tanaka sauntered right up to them, a menacing grin on his face, “Flightless? What was that you were saying? Hmmm?”

“Tanaka, let’s go!” Daichi said with a stern voice, the amusement in his eyes betrayed him though.

The team continued in other’s moving out of their way, and the Ahashi gave a quiet groan as they heard a couple people speak about his apparently dangerous doings. Suga chuckled, “There, there. This always happens.”

“You would think you’re used to it by now, it’s all because you’ve got that sort of look to you,” Daichi said shaking his head.

“But I wanted to give off that ‘wild’ feeling, even if only in appearance.”

Both Daichi and Suga spoke as one, “Geez anyone who says something like that isn’t wild at all.”

Noya grinned and laughed, “As long as you think you’re cool, who cares how others see you!”

“This is what you call ‘wild’” Daichi and Suga once more spoke as one as they place their hands on Noya’s shoulders.

Continuing their journey it didn’t take long for Tanaka and Noya to start circling around Shimizu, growling at the guys who were looking at her, it lasted for a moment before she whacked them some papers.

It seemed that despite Karasuno being well known as the flightless crows some of their members were still recognized. Shouyou heard them whispering about Noya and how he won an award as the best libero, and then also whispers about Kageyama. Said setter also heard and glared at the people talking about him.

The team just continued on, until they came across another team. It was Dateko. The two teams stared at each other. One of the guys walking in the front looked at them before pointing at Asahi.

This guy had short white hair and no eyebrows. Noya growled going to stand next to Asahi, but their ace gently put an arm out. The Karasuno team watched in a bit of amazement as Asahi bravely stared right back at the white haired guy.

“Hey! Stop that!” One of the other Dateko members said trying to get the white haired boy to stop pointing. “I’m really sorry!” He apologized over and over again.

“Ah, it’s okay…” Daichi said.

“Oi, Futakuchi, help me out here!”

“Kaay,” Another Dateko member said, going over and pushing the white haired guy’s arm down as they started pushing him away, “Sorry about that. This guy has a habit of “locking on” to you if he knows you’re an ace.” The guy, Futakuchi, turned to them smiling, “Please be prepared for it this time as well.”

With that Dateko walked off.

“Asahi, you did a good job, not avertingyou ey-” Suga started freezing when they saw the nervous sweat Asahi now had his looking scared out of his wit.

“N-now I’m nervous.”

“Why are you so weak off the court?” Noya complained.

Tanaka gave a light punch, “Have a little tact!”

The group arrived at the changing room and started changing into their playing clothes. Shouyou shivered, a lot more nervous now that he was here and it was happening. He was here in an official match. 

His second official match… but this one he actually had a team. He clenched his fists, trying to ignore the trembling. “Hey, Hinata, are you okay?” Asahi asked quietly.

“I’m just nervous,” Shouyou answered honestly to the older boy, knowing Asahi wouldn’t make fun of him for it.

“Ah, so am I,” Asahi stated, rubbing the back of his head.

“You don’t look so nervous to me,” Shouyou stated tilting his head.

“Well, I have a bit of a trick to help, want to know?”

Shouyou nodded, “Think about the absolute scariest thing you’ve ever experienced If that’s at the top of the fear scale, then you can say ‘There’s no way anything that happens from here on will be scarier than that, so I’ll be fine!’” Asahi told him.

He gave a thoughtful look trying to figure out the scariest thing he ever experienced.

“That’s some good advice Asahi!” Suga said giving a thumbs up.

Suddenly a memory popped up into his head, of the practice match with Aoba Johsai. Of hitting Kageyama in the back of his head and the way Kageyama stalked over to him angry for his misserve. “Ah,” Shouyou stated.

“Hinata?” Suga questioned.

Shouyou gave a smile, “I’m alright now.”

Suga sweatdropped, “Oi, what are you remembering?!”

Daichi clapped his hands, calling their attention, “Alright, everyone ready?”

Getting nods and yes’s from the rest of the team he smiled, “It’s the first match. We’ll be warming up soon.”

“Right!” The team called and followed after him.

“Sawamura!” a voice called out and the entire team stared at the person who called out to Daichi by his first name.

The freckled boy shifted a bit, Daichi smiled, “Ikejiri! It’s been awhile,” He spoke to the boy before turning to the team, “You guys go on ahead.”

So they did, keeping an eye on the freckled person as they did until they were out of sight. Then they were on the court starting to warm up.

“Hey, Tobio-chan~ Chibi-Chan!” The grand king called out to them from railing above them. He gave a peace sign, smiling as he asked, “How’s the oddball combo doing~?”

Iwaizumi whacked Oikawa’s hand, which had been covering his face.

Kageyama glowered at Oikawa, who gazed over them with a surprised expression coming across his face. The team could see them speaking to each other, but couldn’t hear what they were saying.

The warm ups continued and finally the two groups lined up against each other. Then it was pregame meetings for any last words from the coach to the team. “Listen up! It’s only natural for everyone to feel nervous or hyped at the opening of the first match. So it’s a matter of who breaks out of it faster! Slam in the first point and set the pace of the game!”

“Right!” The team shouted back.

Takeda stepped up, “This isn;t empty flattery or the words of a doting parent. You guys are all strong. Karasuno is strong. Let’s show everyone in this hall that the ‘Flightless crows’ are in the air again!!”

“They;re calling us by the same disgraceful nickname as always!” Tanaka said, an irritated expression on his face.

“Let’s wind this, and you can say to them ‘Behold! This is the veteran Karasuno’s revival!’”

“There it is, Take-chan’s inspirational speech!” Noya said in awe as the team looked at him, determined expressions on their faces.

Takeda suddenly looked nervous, “Ak! Was that too petic? Should I take it back?!”

“It’s fine! Don’t worry!” Daichi said holding up his hands to calm down the embarrassed teacher.

The team gathered in a circle and put their hands together, “KARASUNO FIGHT!”

“FIGHT!” The team shouted out.

Then they were ready to play, the other team, a school called Tokonami, won the toss for first serve. Asahi received it and Kageyama got into position. Seconds later the ball was flying over Tanaka who yelled, “Take this!” as he spiked the ball down, scoring them the first point.

The team celebrated and Tanaka and Noya gave victory shouts. 

“Shut up! That’s long enough!” Daichi scolded when the shots dragged on a bit too much.

Which earned them a warning from the referee. Tanka served and the libero of the other team received it. The setter then sent it to the freckled boy, #4 and Daichi and Shouyou jumped to block it, Shouyou grimacing at having to read block. His eyes watched and focused, learning the movements, the tells of the other team so he could switch over to guess blocking faster.

The spike got past, but they had a one touch and Noya received it though it was a bit short and Daichi covered the ball sending it towards Asahi. The team moved and tried to block Asahi, but he just slammed the ball past blowing right past their block.

Shouyou started fidgeting, wanting the ball tossed to him. They served and the other team received it, trying to spike it back, but Noya received the ball from Shouyou’s one touch.

Seconds later the ball was on the court and silence fell as everyone stared at him. 

“He flew…” Someone from Tokonami muttered.

The match continued on and before he knew it they had won the first set. “Do you have a good read on them Hinata?” Ukai questioned.

He grinned giving a thumbs up, “More than good, they are easy to read.”

“Then why didn’t you start guess blocking earlier?” Ennoshita asked, curious.

“Well… the read blocking has been going fine, and I didn’t want to start it without the coach saying it was okay.”

“Hinata, the reason I tell you to start with read blocking is to give you time to learn to read them so you don’t make as many mistakes, as soon as you think you can guess block with 80% accuracy then go for it.”

Shouyou smiled, “Right!”

Then they started the second set and Shouyou was always in front of the spiker, getting a one touch or slamming the ball down, there was only a couple times when he wasn’t. Karasuno could tell that it was unnerving the other team, how whenever Shouyou was up at the front he was always there blocking them.

Of course they were relieved when Shouyou went to the back row, but then they had to deal with Tsukishima, who while not good at guess blocking was good at read blocking, and had the height in order to make up for his lack of enthusiasm.

Although the team was trying to figure out how to motivate him, so far the only good way seemed to be if the opponent antaganoised him. Unfortunately it didn’t seem like Tokonami would be doing that anytime soon.

The game continued, filled with serves, receives, blocks and spikes. They may have a lead on the others, but they weren’t going to go easy because of that, no they were going to play even harder. They were going to show everyone that they weren’t ‘the fallen champions’.

Eventually Karasuno was at 20 points to Tokonami’s 9. It didn’t take much longer for them to win against Tokonami 25-15 in the first match, and 25-10 in the second match.

The team shouted in victory, they had won. They could play again. Stand on the court again.

They would have only a small break and then the next round would begin. The team left going towards the match up sheet to see who they would be facing off against in the next round.

Their opponent? Dateko. 


	12. Dateko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: The second match! How will I ever get this to 2k words? *forgets how long the Dateko match is* Ends up with with almost 3k words. Ok real news though… this next chapter has been taking forever to write and so I will need to take a week off to try and finish this chapter and get some more chapters written. Once I have five chapters written I will start posting this again.   
> Word Count: 2,745  
> Date Written: 3/13/20 - 3/14/20  
> Date Posted: 3/20/20
> 
> AN2: The End Author notes has some fanart inspired by a scene in this chapter.

The group was relaxing and joking around with each other when they overheard others talking about Shouyou and his quicks. Which was awesome to hear, he and Kageyama had worked hard on those normal quicks when they weren’t doing receives.

Kageyama stared at him and Shouyou shifted, “What! There’s nothing wrong with being happy about them complimenting my skills!”

Suddenly an evil looking grin came across Kageyama’s face, “I didn’t say anything. It’s good you’re getting noticed after all. Opponents will keep their eyes on you, and the warrier they are, the more you’ll come into your own.”

Right. Because he was the greatest decoy. Still… if that was Kageyama’s pleased smile… “Your smile’s creepy.” He complimented Kageyama.

Although it wasn’t the subtle intimidation Oikawa had, it was just kind of a pure threatening smile. Kageyama’s eye twitched and he grabbed Shouyou by the hair. “Ow!” Shouyou complained and Kageyama let go.

“Yup, you got it. For now, we’ll create an atmosphere of ‘that short #10 is amazing!’ the greater it gets, the more Hinata shines, and the more it will blind the opposing blockers. As for the starting lineup for the second round… We’ll go with the same used in the first.” Ukai said looking at them, seeing that they understood the Coach nodded, “The next match starts at 1:30, so don’t relax just yet! In the meantime, eat lightly, don’t go filling your stomach, got it?”

“Yes!” The team said nodding and the coach smiled, walking out.

A while later he and Kageyama were tossing the ball back and forth, keeping their bodies warmed up for the next match.

“The next match is against that guy with no eyebrows and the rest of his school.”

“It’s Dateko.”

Shouyou rolled his eyes, “No duh.”

Kageyama scowled at him, “That game in march where they lost to Dateko, was probably the reason Azumane-san stopped coming to club activities.”

“You do remember that Asahi gave us permission to call him his first name, right?”

That comment earned him a growl.

“Hinata, Kageyama, do you have a minute?”

“Sure,” The two responded.

Suga bowed to them slightly, “I’m counting on you. Dateko is a formidable enemy. Three months ago, we were wholly defeated by their ‘Iron wall’ of blockers.” Suga straightened up, “But now, we have the ‘strongest decoy’.” he said smiling at Shouyou. He turned to Kageyama, “Just as you clear the wall in front of Hinata, clear the one in front of our ace, Asahi,as well! Please…”

“I’ll do my best,” Kageyama promised. The three then walked in to get on court as it was getting close for the match to start. Shouyou craned his neck up to look at the tall guys that were their opponents, when no eyebrows looked at him he quickly ducked in front of Tanaka who rolled his eyes at him but let him hide from their sight.

Shouyou was really starting to dislike tall guys. They were all so intimidating, though… they also ended up being pretty nice. Like Oikawa and Iwaizumi. And Ushijima, while he wasn’t very talkative wasn’t mean.

Maybe no eyebrows was like that? Still… he did have that intimidating sort of air. And he had pointed at Asahi.

“Shouyou!” A very familiar voice called from the railings and he looked up spotting Satori. “Good! It looks like we made it just in time to see your match!”

Next to him stood Ushijima and Goshiki.

The rest of his team, noticing the interaction, looked at him. 

“Satori! You're watching?”

“Yeah! We have time to watch, good luck! Show those posers how much better guess blocking is!”

Ushijima’s frown lessened slightly, “So long as his team doesn’t hold him back then I expect this to be a good match.” He spoke, in a voice that managed to make itself heard over Dateko’s cheering, even without shouting.

The rest of Karasuno didn’t take too kindly to that, but Shouyou just grinned, “You’ll see Ushijima-san!”

The ace gave a nod.

Goshiki gave him a thumbs up, “Their blocks will be hard to get past, so you just got to be twice as clever to get past them.”

“I will Goshiki-san!”

With that he turned to his team and grinned at them, “Well! Let’s go win this match!”

“We are talking about this later,” Daichi deadpanned and the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

Shouyou just rolled his eyes.

“Fight!” They heard the other team shout and then they started running laps. It was pretty loud, the whole gym seemed to be cheering in favor of Dateko.

Soon the captains were called to give a handshake. Then they started the official warmup with receives. And Noya seemed to break the tension with one of his ‘Rolling thunders’.

“Alright! There’s nothing to worry about. You guys just keep looking straight ahead! I will protect your backs.” Noya stated, holding his arms out wide.

Kageyama Tanaka and Shouyou were amazed by Noya and in awe, just then Noya had looked so cool. And just like that all tension was gone and the team was ready to face against Dateko.

Dateko served and Daichi received the ball, sending it to Kageyama who tossed it to Shouyou who managed to get it in, scoring the first point. That meant it was there turn to serve, and Kageyama was up and he sent one of his powerful serves at them, sending it straight towards Dateko’s libero.

They tried to spike it, but Kageyama got a one touch and Tanaka received it. Asahi called for a back attack and Tanaka positioned himself to send the ball to him. Only for them to end up blocked by Dateko.

“I’ll get the next one!” Noya promised.

Asahi grinned, “I’ll leave that to you, but I’m going to score with the next one.”

The next ball was served by the other team and Asahi received it, sending the ball to Kageyama who tossed it to Tanako who tried to spike it but was shut down. Except, #7, No eyebrows guy, ended up touching the net.

Karasuno served the ball and Dateko received it, they spiked the ball past Daichi and Tanaka received it they sent the ball towards Asahi who spiked the ball but was blocked, a whistle from the referee revealed that the ball had been knocked out of bounds by it.

Soon the ball was once more in play and Dateko tried to spike it, but Shouyou managed to get a one touch on it. Then he was running going for a spike, he watched saw where it would be clear and took aim, at the last possible second #7’s hand shifted blocking the path and the ball spiked down.

He blinked, a bit surprised, not many people had those kinds of reflexes, to be able to read that well.

“Nice job Aone!” Dateko’s #2 called out raising his hands up.

#7, apparently called Aone, returned the high five and #2 winced crying out in pain, his hands red. 

Kageyama turned to him, “next time, we will definitely score.”

Shouyou’s eyes lit up, “Are we doing  _ it _ then?”

The setter nodded, and Shouyou’s grin gained a predatory edge. It was always fun seeing the shock whenever an opponent saw that move.

Dateko served the ball and Tanaka received it, Shouyou ran at his fastest speed preparing to leap, his eyes closed as he jumped, and his arm slammed down with all his strength and the ball smacked the court with a satisfying bam.

Seeing that they got the point they cheered, “Woo!”

“Nice serve, Hinata!” His team called out and Tsukishima switched out with Noya.

Tsukishima looked at Kageyama, “I’d like a serve a bit further from the net, your highness. I don’t want to get caught by the blockers.”

Kageyama grumbled.

“Hmm what was that?” Tsukishima prodded a smirk on his face.

“I said I got it, okay?!”

“No, it’s very obvious you didn’t say that at all. You don’t want to receive orders from the common folk, is that it? I see that you’re as much as a dictator as ever.”

Kageyama growled and Tanaka stepped between them, “you guys! You never learn do ya?!”

Shouyou from his place could see Asahi turn and pale, a scared expression on his face as he looked at Daichi.

The whistle blew and Shouyou served the ball, aiming for a back corner that had less coverage. He served it he saw #12 go after it before the boy stopped, “Out!” He called.

They watched the ball land right inside the court and it was a point for Karasuno, bringing them to 5 to 3. “Woo, good job Hinata, one more, nice serve!” His team called out.

Shouyou gave another serve, but this time the other team picked it up, #3 spiked it and Daichi received it. Asahi went to spike it but was blocked. Shouyou switched out with Noya, the libero giving him a thumbs up.

Next up it was #7 serve and Noya received it and Kageyama tossed the ball to Tsukishima and the taller boy hit the ball over the block.

Shouyou watched as #7 switched out with their Libero. As #7 walked back to their bench their eyes met and it almost seemed as if #7 was glaring at him, but… in all the other encounters he had looked like that as well.

Maybe he just had a scary face like Kageyama. Shouyou snickered, earning a questioning look from Yamaguchi who stood next to him, “I’m imagining Kageyama with no eyebrows.”

Yamaguchi snickered as well.

The two quietly whispered to each other as they watched the game, mostly poking fun at the Dateko players, like if that #7 was in a tutu, or the #3 in a my little pony costume. Despite talking with Yamaguchi, his eyes never left the game. He kept his focus on and then smiled. 

It wasn’t a nice smile.

The chatting might seem like it would be counterproductive to his focus but, it was a good way to keep their nerves down. Without any nerves, or stress of being in the middle of the game Shouyou picked up their tells a lot faster. They watched the points trade back and forth until it was time for Shouyou to head back in. He only paused long enough to give a nod to coach Ukai who just grinned smugly giving a thumbs up. 

His teammates looked at him and he grinned at them, “I’m ready.”

Grins stretched across their faces as they turned to face Dateko, who noticed their shift in attitude and watched them

Tsuikishima bounced the ball up and down a couple times preparing to serve the ball. He served it and the Libero got it and soon Dateko’s #6 was spiked the ball in scoring a point bringing it to 8-7.

The libero switched out and #7 came back in. It would be him and his iron wall blocking versus Shouyou and the freak quick he and Kageyma had. Dateko served the ball and it hit the net falling in and Noya dived in receiving it.

Shouyou rand jumped and spiked the ball within the next moment, leaving Dateko to stare at him. With that Dateko took a time out. When the game resumed he could see the entire team staring at him watching him. And he knew that he was doing his job as decoy.

They were actively marking him now, but, he had his own trick and he ran and jumped up, killing #7’s spike. Shoyou grinned at the slight widening of #7’s eyes. Next #3 tried to spike and once more Shoyou blocked it.

“Woo!” Tanaka and Noya shouted, “Nice block Hinata!”

He grinned, shooting them a victory sign.

Still the other team still got points from blocking, and some of their spikes still managed to get through, but he was always there, jumping up to get at least a one touch on the ball. Eventually the score reached 17-13 in their favor. Then mixing in a normal quick they brought it up to 18-13. They could see Dateko glaring at them, talking with each other, trying to figure out how to score points and close the slowly opening gap.

They went to do another quick but this time #7 managed to block it, by jumping twice of all things. Karasuno received Dateko’s serve but the ball ended up too close to the net when Shouyou went to spike it and they blocked it.

But, Noya had his back and received the ball, keeping it in play, he had barely recognized this but was already moving, getting ready again as Kageyama got ready to toss. “Right here!” He called out and the blockers moved to block him jumping as he did to stop the block.

Only for them to land and stare as Asahi floated behind Shoyou slamming the ball down in a powerful spike as he fell to the ground landing with an audible thud on the quiet court. Seconds later a cheer broke out from Karasuno as they clapped Asahi on the back.

Shouyou smiled as he and #7 met eyes, and he could feel the middle blockers determination to stop him. But, it was only exciting, he wanted to beat #7, middle blocker vs middle blocker.

Back and forth the game continued. Each team trading points. Each team blocking each other and spiking the ball. Until finally they won the first set. 25-18.

The team met up during the break in between sets and the coach decided that they would shift over 2 spots, so that #7 couldn’t match up against Hinata as much.

Now it was time to start the second set, and Tanaka was up for first serve. The other team received it and sent it to #3 who spiked it past Asahi. Dateko served and Noya received it sending the ball to Kageyama who tossed it to Asahi who managed to get the spike in even though #7 had moved in time to get a one touch on it.

Next it was Shouyou’s serve and he sent it towards the setter,#2, who was forced to receive the ball and then #2 tried to spike it, but Tsukishima shot the ball down, scoring them another point.

And as such the game continued. Everyone was working to figure out how to get past the blocks without relying on the freak quick.

Karasuno hit 20 first and the tension was high. Points were slow as everytime Karasuno scored one, Dateko did as well. But… Karasuno was maintaining the 3 point lead. Dateko was determined though to win and they weren’t giving up. They scored points and hit 24-21, but Shouyou was on the sidelines as Noya took his place for recieving.

And what some amazing receives he made. Asahi had spiked the ball only to be blocked, but Noya had dived and got it. Asahi had tried again to spike it and was blocked once more. It seemed impossible to get, but somehow, Noya had stuck his foot out and received the ball.

“One more time!” The team shouted at Asahi. The ace called for the ball and spiked it, the blockers blocked it, but the ball seemed to hit the net and fall inside along Dateko’s side. 

Match point was Karasuno’s.

They had won.

“Line up!”

The two teams lined up and faced each other and bowed before moving up to give handshakes.

When the handshakes were done Shouyou turned to leave, but stopped when he saw another hand sticking from underneath the net, turning he saw it was Dateko’s #7, who still looked like he was glaring, but Shouyou was now 95% sure that was his normal face.

He smiled and shook #7’s hand.

The team celebrated their victory together. Tsukishima looked at them with a smirk on his face, “Even though you’re both muscle brains. Nice job thinking that up.”

“Suga came up with it,” Shouyou informed Tsukishima.

The tall first year blinked and nodded, “Ah that does seem more likely than you two thinking of it.”

The team started to head off the court when a cheer for Aoba Johsai caught their attention. They looked over to see Oikawa bouncing the ball before tossing it in the air and jumping slamming the ball down past the opposite team.

The team turned away, a determined air replacing the victorious one. They still had more matches to win.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much ImMyOwnStorm for this fanart. Or Photo Manipulation, or whatever you want to call it. Now here is the link to an eyebrowless Kags, and a few other characters.
> 
> https://immyownstorm.tumblr.com/post/618589814483304448/little-monster-chapter-1-thedeadgirlrisen


	13. Aoba Johsai

After watching Aoba Johsai’s match they returned to school where the coach gave them the plan for their initial setup, finally they returned home, the team either forgetting to question him or putting it off for after the Aoba Johsai match. Shouyou opened his phone to see messages from a lot of people. He opened Satori’s first.

[ _ Shouyou! That was a wonderful match! Wakatoshi still thinks Karasuno’s holding you back, but he’s like that with Oikawa as well. Good luck beating Aoba Johsai! I want to face off against you, guess blocker to guess blocker!] _

[You still have another match as well, don’t get too cocky over there! I want to face off against you as well.]

Next he opened the message from Kuroo.

[ _ How did your first day go?] _

_ [We won.]  _

_ [We’re playing again tomorrow.] _

[Good, we won, but we still have some tough matches up ahead of us.]

He then opened the message from Oikawa.

[ _ Prepare yourself Chibi-chan~ Just because you’re my kohai doesn’t mean I’m going to go easy on you~ B-)]  _

[I won’t go easy on you either Grand King!] __

_ [See you on the court Chibi-chan~ _ ]

He woke up the next morning and saw a good luck message from Kuroo and Satori. He got ready and headed over to school after grabbing a light breakfast. He was the first to arrive, beating Kageyama by a second. The two rested while they waited for the rest of the team to arrive and then the team got on the bus and they drove to the stadium.

As they walked in they heard whispers, about them facing against Aoba Johsai, that they had beaten Dateko.

“Look at that #10, he jumps so high.”

“That’s Karasuno? I thought they weren’t good anymore?”

The group arrived on the court and Daichi and Oikawa shook hands. Then the official warm up started and they stretched before doing spiking and receiving. They watched the other team do their warmups as well, as Oikawa commented to each of his teammates. And as Iwaizumi tried to murder Oikawa.

The whistle blew and the teams lined up facing each other and bowing, “Let’s have a good game!” They shouted at each other.

As they headed towards the pregame team meetup Oikawa walked by them on the net, “Hey there, Tobio-chan~”

All three stopped and Oikawa smiled, “I came here looking forward to defeating the ‘genius setter’ so do try your best to put up a fight.”

Kageyama’s glare worsened.

Was it bad that Shouyou wanted some popcorn? This felt like a drama show with how much tension was going on between the two. 

“We’re going to wi-”

“Oh~ Chibi-chan~! I look forward to playing against you,” He paused his grin turning into a smirk, “You better not let me down.”

“We won’t lose!” Shouyou retorted back grinning in return as he straightened up a bit.

Kageyama’s eye twitched, “Don’t interrupt me!” he said, whacking Shouyou on the head.

“But it’s not my fault~!” Shouyou whined pouting.

Kageyama ignored him and turned to Oikawa, “We won’t lose this time either!”

Oikawa tilted his head, “Hm? Did you say something?” 

“Ouch!” Oikawa yelped as a thud sounded and they saw Iwaizumi standing a few feet behind. 

“Get over here already,” Iwaizumi stated and Oikawa pouted as he turned away.

Kageyama’s eyes twitched as they walked over to the team meetup. “You guys have already won against Aoba Johsai once. Even if your opponents weren’t at their best then, I think you should take the reality of that win as a reason to have confidence in yourselves. Confidence, not conceit.”

“Right!” The team shouted as they gathered in a group huddle and put their hands together. “Karasuno fight!”

“FIGHT!” They shouted, throwing their hands up.

The team got into positions and Tsukishima started with the serve, Aoba Johsai’s #13 received it and the ball went to Oikawa.

Karasuno tensed as two the two wing spikers in the vanguard ran forward. Shouyou frowned as Oikawa jumped up.

He threw his hands up and gave a jump following his instincts and felt the ball slam into his hands, “One touch!” He called out. He ran to the side shouting as he did so, calling for the ball as he spiked the ball down, unfortunately the libero was there to get the ball and next Oikawa tossed the ball to Iwaizumi. The ace spiked the ball down.

“Keep it up Hajime! Go go Hajime! One More!” The crowd that came to support Aoba Johsai roared.

Now it was Aoba Johasai’s turn to serve, #2 bounced the ball a couple times getting a feel before serving it over. Daichi received it and he and Tanaka ran up to do a quick, only for Kageyama to dump the ball.

“That’s how you do a dump,” Kageyama said condescendingly to Oikawa who's eyebrow twitched.

“You damn brat,” Oikawa growled.

Kageyama just looked smug. And now it was his turn to serve. As soon as he hit the ball the other team called out and Oikawa snickered. Kageuama growled as he muttered a sorry.

“Don’t mind!”

Oikawa smirked as he took up a serving position, “I suppose I’ll have to show you how it’s done,” he taunted loud enough for them to hear.

He tossed the ball up and jumped slamming it down at Noya who moved his arms to the side. Receiving the ball with ease. “Nice receive!” The team called out.

“How was that ‘showing how it’s done’ he got it with a normal receive didn’t he!” Iwaizumi shouted, not taking his eyes off the otherside.

“Whoopsie~”

Shouyou ran forward and spiked the ball down, evening the scoreboard between the two schools. Tanaka was up next to serve and Aoba Johsai received it. Oikawa tossed to scallop head and he spiked it down. Yet, he seemed to be jumping even higher than what he did in the practice match.

The other school served the ball and Daichi received it. “Send it over!” Shouyou shouted, preparing to jump. He watched his opponents and saw Oikawa move over to Asahi and jump to try and block the ace. Luckily it was a bit too late and Asahi still got the spike through.

Once again their scores were tied, 3-3.

A slow grin came across Oikawa’s face, “Got it.”

Kageyama shuddered glancing at the older boy’s face. Oikawa turned to their coach calling for a time out.

Shouyou looked at Kageyama and the boy nodded, “They figured it out.” Kageyama informed the rest of the team, who nodded.

Kageyama’s normal glaring face seemed even more severed. Noya and Tanaka looked at each other and then Noya slapped Kageyama in the back, “Heeeey! Don’t make such a scary serious face.” Noya scolded lightly.

“But Noya… this guy’s face generally looks like that all the time. When he’s drinking milk or trying to decide on a yogurt flavor, it’s the same expression!”

Kageyama shook his head, “Th- Wait a- That’s not true at all.”

“But it totally is!” Shouyou chimed in.

“Even if they’ve figured out our signals, Hinata’s strongest weapon is his role as a decoy. With your setups, even Seijou’s blocks will be a cinch, y’know. Right Hinata?”

“Right! Besides, I’ve already got a read on them. So I can start guess blocking.”

The team nodded.

Kageyama’s mouthed pinched as he quietly muttered a thanks, taking a couple times to get it out. Earning snickers from Noya and Tanaka.

The time out ended and the team got back into positions.

The two teams played against each other, and slowly Aoba johsai pulled ahead.

Eventually it was Kageyama’s serve and he sent the ball to the front. And Aoba Johsai #2 recieved it. The ball banged against Iwaizumi’s hand and Oikawa tossed the ball towards Kageyama. Daichi set the ball to Tanaka, only for him to be blocked.

Next up it was Oikawa’s serve and he shot the ball towards Tanaka. The ball hit and flew off out of bounds. It was now a five point difference between the two, Aoba johsai with 15 and Karasuno with 10.

They called for a timeout, trying to break the flow of the game. Then the game resumed and Oikawa once more served the ball at Tanaka, who got the ball up, but it went towards the other side and scallop head jumped up and spiked it down, Shouyou though got hit in the face by it.

Still it managed to keep the ball up.

He groaned as he struggled to stand back up holding a hand to his head for a moment, his vision swam, but after a moment it cleared up.

“You okay?” Daichi asked, standing next to him.

“Yeah, did we score?”

“We did,” Daichi stated.

Shouyou stood back up and got back into position. He spared a quick glance at the scoreboard, 11-16 in Aoba Johsai’s favor. They could still catch up. Tanaka got into the serve position and served the ball and the game was back on.

Slowly they seemed to be falling more and more behind and Kageyama’s tosses got faster and faster. 

Tanaka received a ball which shot forward over the net and Kageyama and Oikawa jumped for it, fighting over which side it would land on. The ball landed on Karasuno’s side. Bringing Aoba Johsai to 19 points.

Aoba Johsai served and Noya received it. Kageyama sent the ball a bit too fast and Tsukishima missed the ball. Shouyou frowned from his position on the sidelines.

With that the coach decided they would change setters. “Take this time to calm yourself, and watch your senpai’s plays.” Coach instructed.

Kageyama just nodded.

Suga smiled as he went to the team, punching Daichi on the chest, slapping Tanaka on the head, chopping Asahi’s side, Karate chopping Tsukishima’s head and giving a double high five with Noya. “Alright!” He shouted. “It’ll be fine! We’ll break their streak in one go!”

The rest of the team beamed at Suga, looking moved by the vice captain’s words. As the game continued on Shouyou scolded Kageyama for his lack of vocalization. They watched as Suga changed positions with Tsukishima at the last minute, getting a block in. Finally Shouyou could go back in the game.

“Hinata!” Suga said, ruffling his hair and welcoming him onto the court. 

“I know you do guess blocking… So what are your thoughts on this; if the next ball is cleanly received I think they would do a quick.”

Shouyou nodded, “Yeah, they would.”

Suga beamed, “Good. Then let’s block them out.”

Tsukishima sent the ball and the other team cleanly received it. Shouyou went forward and jumped, putting his hands over and blocking the ball. “Woo! Way to go!” Suga cheered, ruffling his hair again.

The team continued playing, keeping the momentum going for another couple points before it was finally stopped, bringing the score 17-20. Unfortunately it was Oikawa’s serve.

The captain of Aoba Johsai smirked, he spun the ball in his hand tossing it up and jumping, hitting the ball hard and it came right in between Daichi and Tanaka. Scoring a point over the indecision.

The next was a soft serve falling in front and surprising their team who was used to his powerful serves. Noya managed to dive in front to get it and the ball became in play. Suga got to the ball and set it towards Asahi who spiked it down scoring them a point, and stopping Oikawa’s serves.

18-22

19-22

19-23

20-23

21-23

21-24 Seijou was at match point, they served the ball and Daichi received it, Suga sent the ball to Asahi, but they received it and Oikawa set the ball to Iwaizumi who spiked it in a hard cross shot that nearly went out of bounds.

21-25. Aoba Johsai had won the first set.

The break happened and they wiped the sweat off and drinked a lot of water, rehydrating themselves as they prepared for the start of the second set. Shouyou looked over and watched as Suga and Kageyama seemed to be talking. Tsukishima was over by Yamaguchi. Daichi and Asahi were off and it looked as if the captain was being mean to the ace again. He watched as the captain gave Asahi a clap on the back and the ace nodded his head.

Tanaka and Noya were talking to Kiyoko who just ignored them. This didn’t deter the two boys though as they just turned to each other seemingly happy about being ignored. Coach looked to be planning something and after a half minute or so he called them over, telling them how they would deal with Oikawa’s serve.

Currently Noya was in while Shouyou stood next to Kageyama as the game started. They watched as the game went on and Suga praised people as they did good moves, “Suga really knows how to make someone feel good when they score!” Shouyou stated, with a smile.

Kageyama’s expression was flat as he deadpanned, “Is that so.”

“It’s not like he’s doing it to ‘get along’ with everyone, you know,” Ennoshita started to explain, “While he’s calling out like that, I think he’s able to see each spiker’s expression, tell how they’re doing today and the like, in a casual way. Tsukishima in particular is different from the 2nd and 3rd years, since there’s a lot about him that Sugawara-san doesn’t know.” Ennoshita shrugged, “Well, however you look at it Tsukishima isn’t a ‘simple person’, so I guess there's no real need to worry.”

Both Shouyou and Ennoshita looked at Kageyama who did not look pleased, “‘Why do I have to suck up to the others, especially Tsukishima, dumbass.’ Is the sort of face you’re making.”

“I wouldn’t say that!” Kageyama protested.

“Still, Kageyama, when Hinata seems to be having a hard time hitting a toss, you adjust it, right?”

Kageyama’s expression turned puzzled, “Yeah, since he misses easily.”

“You’re the one who tells me to close my eyes Bakayama!” Shouyou retorted. “Besides I’m working on improving!”

Ennoshita smiled, “That’s true, your technique is still rough, but yeah, because of that if Hinata wasn’t synced with you, it’s clear that he’d end up failing. However, everyone else is reasonably skilled, so even if they think it’ll be a bit hard to hit, they figure they can just hit it as is. I think our spikers are pretty powerful, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah!” Shouyou said, nodding his head, even as Kageyama just gave one nod.

“Well if they are able to hit tosses that draw out 100% of their power, I think they would be able to get past blockers as well.”

Shouyou blinked, thinking back to the times when he and Oikawa had been practicing, how the toss had been easy to hit after a bit of practice, that he had been able see and hit the ball, while Kageyama’s were quick and harder to aim, but had more power. That was of course for their normal quick. The freak quick he had to close his eyes. And he rarely got a normal toss from Kageyama. Yet, with Oikawa, the normal toss he got was awesome to hit as he could direct it wherever he wanted, though that had been against only Iwaizumi blocking him.

A raise in the noise alerted them that it was Oikawa’s turn to serve and they turned to see how Noya and Daichi would deal with the serve in the new formation. The score was tied 3-3.

Oikawa bounced the ball and the whistle blew. He looked up his eyes glinting as he tossed the ball into the air. He leapt up and slammed the ball, rocketing it towards Daichi. The captain lept to the side receiving the ball. Suga got into position and sent the ball to Tanaka who spiked the ball down.

Bringing them into the lead as they had 4 points.

“It’s only one point,” Shouyou heard faintly coming from the other side and he noticed that Oikawa and Iwaizumi were looking at the rest of their team.

The game continued and Shouyou made his way back onto the court and back off as they scored points and lost points, the teams seemed relatively even as they kept climbing up one by one. The score was 16-15 in Karasuno’s favor and it was once more Oikawa’s turn to serve. He scored the tying point when a ball that seemed like it was going out was in, and the second Noya received and Suga sent to tanaka but it was blocked.

Aoba Johsai had got a break.

Currently Shouyou was in the game and Suga tossed to him, a bit too slow and low and he got blocked by Kindachi.

The team noticed Coach Ukai call over Kageyama and shared a look. “Give me the next ball,” Asahi called to Suga, “I will definitely score.”

“Right!”

So they received and Suga sent the ball to Asahi who did score them the point, and then Kageyama and Suga traded positions. Kageyama was back in the game.

The team all came over to him to welcome him back onto the court and froze when Kageyama gave some sort of creepy plotting face that he called a smile. “What are you plotting? Please tell me it’s some way to crush the other team!” Shouyou stated looking at Kageyama.

“Hinata, this isn;t his plotting face, it’s a smile. Probably!”

“Don't say ‘probably’ Nishinoya!” Asahi said worriedly.

“Oooh!” Daichi exclaimed.

“I’m going to smack you Hinata!”

“Try it!” Shouyou retorted ducking as Kageyama tried to slap his head.

“Cut it out everyone, don’t mess with Kageyama so much!” Daichi scolded them. The team turned to him, “Okay! We’re going to catch up!”

“YEAH!” The team shouted.

They got into position, “Did Suga tell you about the signs.”

“Between sets, yeah,” Kageyama said holding a fist.

Shouyou just nodded.

He got into position as Kageyama got into the server’s spot. Kageyama took a deep breath as the whistle blew and glanced up. He tossed the ball and hit it down in a powerful serve hitting it against the libero and gaining them a point as it bounced off. Tying them 18 to 18.

“WOOO!” Tanaka shouted, raising his hands up. Kageyama stared at him. “WOO!” Tanaka insisted.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never done a high five?” Shouyou questioned.

Was it his imagination or did he hear Tsukishima snickering in the background?

Kageyama raised his hands giving a mumbled woo even as Tanaka roared his woo and the two high five. Glancing at Aoba Johsai revealed scallop head staring at Kageyama in shock. “One more!” The Karasuno team shouted as Kageyhama took up his position to serve once more.

Iwaizumi got the ball calling for cover and then their libro got the ball and #3 sent the ball back over to them. 

It was a free ball.

Shouyou, remembering the signal, stayed silent as he ran up for their freak quick. He grinned after opening his eyes as he landed back on the ground, relishing in the shocked expression of scallop head’s face. They were ahead of the tie now.

“...Oi, Hinata,” Kageyama called out. Shouyou turned towards him to see that the boy had a pained expression on his face. “You did well.”

“What am I, an employee?” Shouyou deadpanned. “If you are going to compliment someone at least seem genuine about it.”

Kageyama growled as he went to swat Shouyou.

He ducked and headed over to his spot as Kageyama once more got into position to serve. This time Iwaizumi perfectly received the ball and Oikawa sent it to number three who spiked the ball down. Bringing them back to a tie of 19-19. Kageyama signaled their next move and Shouyou prepared for another quick.

Aoba Johsai’s #13 was up to serve and Tanaka received it, Kageyama got into position and SPiked the ball down right past Oikawa who had been a couple seconds too late to get past the block.

Shouyou stuck his tongue out at the Aoba Johsai captain who smirked back, his eyes glinting challengingly. A silent promise that next time he would stop the ball.

Shouyou turned to Kageyama, and raised his hands up, staring challengingly at the taller boy. Kageyeama seemed to glower back, but raised his hands and the two high fived each other as hard as they could.

Discreetly Shouyou winced, rubbing his now red stinging palms. He went over to the serve position and Tsukishima came in as Noya walked out. The blonde boy looked at him, “Try not to hit me in the head.”

“It would be Kageyama that would have to worry, and it was only one time, I’ve gotten better since then!”

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, “Your serves are all over the place, usually barely staying in bounds or going over the net.”

“They are in though, aren’t they?”

Tsukishima nodded. “Aim for the #13,” the boy told him in a bored tone as he walked forward.

Kageyama turned to glare at Tsukishima who stared down at the setter, “Do you need something your highness?”

The setter didn’t say anything.

The whistle blew and Shouyou took a deep breath, pinpointing #13 he hit the ball over watching as it went right towards the member who received the ball, but his arms were positioned incorrectly and set the ball high in the air, dropping back over onto Karasuno’s side.

Soon Kageyama was setting the ball to Asahi who spiked it against two blockers and it went out of bounds.

“How was-?” Kageyama started to ask.

“A little higher please,” Asahi asked and Kageyama nodded.

A whistle blew and Seijou was calling for a time out. Soon the game was back in play and Aoba Johsai scored a point getting past Tsukishima’s block. They scored once again when they received Tsukishima’s spike and scallop head spiked it in. Putting Aoba Johsai in the lead.

Karasuno called a time out. 

Kageyama glowered at Tsukishima, “Oi. How the hell was that toss just now, huh?”

Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Shouyou all stared at the setter, surprised that he was actually asking Tsukishima.

Tsukishima pushed his glasses up, the lens shining white as the light reflected off of them and he responded, “It pisses me off that you’re practically telling me, ‘just shut up and hit the toss, peasant.’”

Kageyama’s expression turned to a more confused glower, “What do you mean?”

“I have a way of doing things too, so I’d like a more uniform toss. If that isn’t too much to ask, your highness,” Tsukishima informed. “You aren’t the only one ‘thinking.’ The opponent's defensive formation. The sort of attack that suits you best today. Everyone is thinking something or other. Even Hinata sometimes thinks on the court, that’s what allows you to use the normal quick, you know? He hits the ball to get around a block in a way he thinks will work.”

“Alright.”

Tsukishima, blinked, his mouth falling open for a brief moment, “You’re really docile today. Are you sick?!”

“Kageyama is too mean to get sick,” Shouyou deadpanned.

“Oi!” Kageyama shouted, glaring at Shouyou before turning to Tsukishima. “I won’t know which is better if I don’t give it a try.”

The whistle blew and the timeout was over.

Shouyou stood next to Yamaguchi on the sidelines as they watched the game continue as Kagayama sent the toss that Tsukishima wanted and the middle blocker scored a point with a feint. Tying the score again. Then another feint, and another before switching to a smash, bringing them to match point with Aoba Johsai at 21.

They may have match point, but it was Oikawa’s serve. His face, normally always filled with a smile was serious as he stared down at them.

Toss.

Jump.

Hit.

Point.

Just like that in a fluid of motion. One moment the ball was high in the air not hit, the next it was down on their court, hitting the floor with an echoing thud as it bounced back up into the stands.

“So cool…” Noya and Shouyou muttered in sync.

That serve had been extremely powerful.

The next serve was hit, but this time Noya managed to get it, unfortunately due to the power of the ball it was sent back to Aoba Johsai. Shouyou watched from the sidelines as Kageyama tugged Tsukishima to the side for a block as they jumped up slamming down Iwaizumi’s spike.

“Wooo! Nice block!” Shouyou called out.

With that move they hit 25 points and won the second set.

The break in between sets happened and the team wiped off the sweat and rehydrated. “Alright team, one more set, all we have to do is take this set and we win this. Focus on the game and keep calm.” The coach instructed them.

“Right!”

“Now get out there and show them our strength!”

“Yeah!”

And thus the third set began.

Back and forth, the teams traded the ball, each play becoming a rally before a team finally scored a point.

Karasuno the first point, but Seijou the next. Then Seijou with Karasuno following. It was intense, difficult, both teams were now familiar with the other teams moves and plays. Could read the others and knew what to do. Even their freak quick was getting blocked with a one touch.

As they played both teams scored points, never letting either of the teams take a two point difference. At least not until Oikawa received a ball and the libero did a set from the back to Oikawa who spiked the ball down, getting past Kageyama who had jumped to block.

The game continued and soon Asahi was spiking the ball down, but #3 received it and the ball started to head back over the net. Oikawa ran and jumped up, Shouyou ran to Iwaizumi and jumped up blocking the ball.

He knew Oikawa’s skills, and had figured that the setter would pull off such a risky toss since he couldn’t do a dump. 

The play continued and he switched out with Noya, waiting as he stared at the game intensely, watching everything. 

_ “It’s hard when I get switched out with our libero, I know it’s better for our team’s defense, but I want to be in the game.” Shouyou had said to Satori at one point after the practice match against Nekoma. _

_ “It can be a good thing though, it lets you save a bit of energy, and… you can watch your opponents from an outside perspective.” _

_ “Yeah… I guess…” _

_“Don’t just watch them. Read them, see who is tired, whose spirit is close to breaking. Think about the plays they are getting used to, what they aren’t used to. If you need to improve, watch your opponents, are they strong? Can you copy their moves? Watch, and use what you see to break them,”_ _Satori spoke, his eyes glinting as he gave a savage grin._

Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes for a second, snapping them open as he watched Aoba Johsai, he saw that Scallop head’s jumps didn’t seem as high as the beginning of the set. Iwaizumi wasn’t teasing Oikawa as much. The Libero was a half second slower to start after the ball. Yet, despite all this they still seemed to be playing to full capacity. It was like a web, with Oikawa at the center tying the group together, keeping them from falling apart.

Karasuno on the other hand had similar flaws from the long gameplay. Tsukishima didn’t seem to be jumping as high. Asahi wasn’t hitting as hard. Daichi wasn’t giving his normal in between play pep talks. Tanaka and Noya while still energetic weren’t bouncing nearly as much. If Aoba Johsai was like a web that captured bugs by each of the strings sticking together, Karasuno was like a venus flytrap, each individually working to capture bugs.

“Use the whole of the court.”

‘I haven’t done the broad attack.’

The team was calling out to each other, playing together, yet… it lacked something cohesive. Something that made them polished.

Noya and him traded out and Shouyou smiled at the team, “Let’s turn this around!”

The team nodded, determination etched on their faces. He wanted to do something that would give them a boost, but what? He wasn’t the captain. He was just in his first year. He couldn’t speak with words. So he would just have to motivate the team with his plays.

Shouyou was on one side of the court then he ran to the other, doing a broad attack as Kageyama set the ball to him. Leaving the blockers behind. Again. Once more leaving the blockers behind. Scoring another point, getting Karasuno to 20.

‘The greatest Decoy… is me!’ Shouyou thought running as if he was going to do another broad attack. He jumped and swung grinning down at the blocker who’s head whipped to the other side of the court where Tanaka had just finished spiking the ball down. 21-19 they had a break.

Aoba Johsai took a time out and when the game resumed the air had once more changed, they seemed more confident. They served and Seijou received the ball, sending it to Oikawa who set the ball to scallop head.

Shouyou jumped to block the ball, but was slightly off and it went right past the side of his hand. Already he was running to do a broad attack. He lept and spiked the ball Kageyama set to him, but there were no blockers. 

There was only the libero who received the ball. And then Oikawa did a dump, nobody making it in time to save the ball.

And now it was Oikawa’s serve.

15 minutes later and Aoba Johsai was up 3 more points before Karasuno was able to score a point, bringing the score to 22-23 in Seijou’s favor.

Shouyou and Yamaguchi switched out, the boy nervous as he was the pinch server. “Nice serve Yamaguchi!” Shouyou said, giving a reassuring grin to the boy, trying to ease his nerves a bit.

“R-r-right,” Yamaguchi stuttered out as he took his position.

“Is the coach a sadist?” Narita, one of the second years, questioned.

“We got to do something,” Kinoshita agreed.

“Let’s cheer him up!” Noya shouted.

The group quickly coordinated,“YAMAGUCHI!” They shouted and as the boy turned to them, they raised their legs up as they pointed at Yamaguchi, “Focus for a nice serve!”

Yamaguchi nodded.

The boy stood and bounced the ball flinching as the ball got away from him and he chased after it, his cheeks flushing in embarrassment. The whistle blew and he flinched tossing the ball up and hitting it as it fell on the top of the net, balancing precariously for a few seconds before slowly falling down.

On Aoba Johsai’s side. They had scored.

“WOOO! Nice one Yamaguchi!” The team shouted.

Tanaka high fived Yamaguchi which the boy returned and Tsukishima gave a nod, “Good job.”

23-23

The next point would be match point. They needed to win two points in a row or be at deuce.

Yamaguchi served again, this time the ball hitting the middle of the net. “S-sorry!” Yamaguchi cried out.

“Yamaguchi!” Daichi called.

“I’m rea-”

“You’ll make it next time.”

“Yes!” Yamaguch replied as he switched back out with Shoyou who was currently sitting at the side as Noya held the defense for him.

Like a switch had been flipped all the tension seemed to ease away as the team became determined. They would bring this to deuce, they would score two points first and continue with the preliminaries. 

Shouyou went back in and Noya out as Tsukishima went to serve. The other team received it and Oikawa tossed the ball to Iwaizumi. Shouyou though was there and he slammed the ball down in a successful block. 

Bringing them to a deuce.

“I’ll do a broad attack. As many times as it takes till we score a point.”

Kageyama looked at him and nodded.

Run for the broad attack. Jump. Miss.

Run for the broad attack. Jump. Miss.

Run for the broad attack. Jump. Miss.

The libero was good at getting the ball.

Shouyou panted willing himself to run again. Jump again. Jump!

He jumped, but it wasn’t as high, his fingers barely grazed the ball, but it was enough as the ball went forward. Scoring them their 25th point.

“One more point!” The guys on their side shouted.

“Like hell!” Aoba Johsai roared back glaring. 

The game continued and Seijou scored the point tying the back up.

Serve. Receive.

Jump. Run.

Block. Spike.

Run. Jump.

Every movement further drained both sides, pure will keeping the rally's going as the points slowly climbed, neither team catching a break. The two team’s hit 30. Yet, now it was Oikawa’s serve.

Oikawa took a deep breath, opened his eyes and stared at them for a moment, ignoring the whistle. Then he tossed the ball up, running, leaping, and slamming the ball.

“Out!” Noya called as his head weaved to the side so the ball passed by harmlessly hitting out of bounds.

Shouyou served as Tsukishima went into the vanguard. #3 received the ball and Oikawa tossed it to Iwaizumi who scored the point. “Now we’re even. Whichever way we get it, a point is a point.” Iwaizumi informed them through the net.

“We’ll take it back!” Shouyou retorted.

Shouyou clapped Noya on the hands as they switched out and he anxiously awaited for when he could go back in.

Again the two teams went back and forth, exhaustion curling around them, kept away only by the pure will they had to win. It was almost audible the thoughts, ‘We won’t lose.’

It has been a full rotation and Oikawa was once more serving. Daichi barely received the ball and it was sent to the other side. Shouyou ran as Oikawa tossed the ball to #13. He jumped, getting a one touch on it, and Noya received it. Kageyama tossed the ball to Shouyou who ran and jumped, spiking the ball down. The libero received it and Oikawa once more tossed to #13 who jumped up high, not seeming as exhausted as everyone else. This time Shouyou and Asahi were too slow and the middle blocker scored the point. 38-39 in Seijou’s favor.

Once more Oikawa served, looking as if it was another powerful serve, but instead it dropped right in front. Kageyama dived forward receiving the ball. “Left/Center!” Both Shouyou and Asahi called for the ball.

“Left!” Daichi shouted, sending the ball to Asahi. The ace slammed the ball through but the libero got the ball.

“Here’s one from  _ our  _ ace!” Some of Aoba Johsai called out as Oikawa sent the ball to Iwaizumi. Tanaka recieved the spike but it went to head over the net.

Shouyou and scallop head both jumped up for it. Both hands connected and the two battled for the ball, almost seeming as if they were frozen in midair. “Noya!” Shouyou yelled, even as the ball started to tip on their side as the two players fell down and Shouyou had to pull his hands away less he touched the net.

Noya received the ball and the ball was sent to Kageyama. Shouyou ran at his fastest speed, jumped at his highest point, hit with all his might.

Yet the thud of the ball smacking against hands was way to close and Shouyou opened his eyes to see Oikawa smirking down at him, a victorious glint in his eyes.

Just like that the match was over.

Karasuno had lost. 38-40.

“Tobio-chan~ Payback from earlier~” Oikawa called out, sticking his tongue at Kageyama’s glowering face.

Kageyama’s hands clenched, his glare intense even as Oikawa turned away. The two teams lined up and bowed to each other. Then they each went to thank their supporters. And then they left the court.

Only the strong stayed on the court.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: Alright! Almost done, not sure how I feel about writing the matches, since at this point it’s only a minor change, a few points, a mention of his blocking. I tried to insert a few entertaining parts into the Dateko chapter, and I plan to do that here as well. Please bare with me. This chapter took awhile to write because I got into playing a video game. And I just over all struggled with some of it. But finally it’s finished.   
> Word Count: 5989  
> Date Written: 3/15/20 - 3/23/20  
> Date Posted: 3/28/20  
> A/N 2: I will try to post once a week now, but I've been super busy lately.
> 
> Aoba Johsai


	14. Grades

The team stayed quite, upset and frustrated as they headed back to school. Coach Ukai may have treated them to a meal, but the fress loss still weighed heavily on all of them. 

[We lost]

It was a simple text he had sent to Kuroo, Kenma, and Satori after the match had ended. Kuroo was the one to reply an hour later.

_ [Our’s haven’t started yet] _

Shouyou didn’t really feel up to messaging so he turned his phone off as he prepared for bed.

_ “If you stay on your knees, then it would be a sign of weakness,” _ Takeda’s words echoed in his mind.

As he laid in bed unable to fall asleep he promised himself that next time he would be better, next time they would win and stay on the court.

Next time.

He fell asleep and dreamed of defeating Aoba Johsai. Defeating Shiratorizawa. Going to Nationals. Winning against other amazing teams and standing on the court the longest.

The next day he sat in class, trying his best to focus on the school work, instead of on the thoughts of Aoba Johsai and Shiratorizawa fighting against each other. For lunch he sat alone, thinking about what he could do to improve himself. Trying to figure out ways for the team to get better.

That afternoon the team waited in the gym, wondering if the third years would continue on with them. After a while it seemed like they wouldn’t show, and then the door burst open, “Crap, we’re late. Get the lead out!”

Suga gave a grin at them, “You better believe we’re gonna go to the spring high.”

“Alright!” Tanaka, Noya and Shouyou called out.

Coach Ukai then told them that the spring tournament was the third year’s final battle, and Daichi promised them that they were going there.

And then Takeda came in pantining and he tripped and fell down.

“Sensei!?” The team called out worried.

“We’re going, right?!” He questioned looking up.

“Your nose is bleeding!” Kageyama stated, a panicked look on his face.

“Going somewhere? Where would we be going?” Shouyou questioned even as he went to help the teacher up, handing over a tissue.

“To Tokyo!”

“Tokyo?” Several members of the team repeated.

“By that, do you mean Nekoma?”

“We’re going to have a practice match?”

Takeda nodded, grinning, “But, this time it won’t just be with Neokma. It;s with the Fukurodani academy group. As a group made up of several schools in Kanto, including Nekoma, they apparently conduct rigorous practice matches and the like on a regular basis, but this time, thanks to Nekoma’s coach Nekomata, Karasuno’s also going to be allowed to participate in their joint pratch matches!!”

“Woah!!” Tanaka and Noya shouted, stars in their eyes as they looked up at Takeda.

Coach Ukain took this time to explain how hard it was for a school to be invited into tight groups like they were, and that they should definitely be thankful for Coach Nekomata and their Sensei. Then Sensei had to go for a staff meeting and the team was left to their own practice.

“So, Hinata, I think it’s time we had a chat,” Daichi said.

“About what?”

“The fact you are friends with several members of Shiratorizawa.”

“Ah, I’m only friends with Satori, I’ve only met Ushijima a couple times, and Goshiki once,” Shouyou explained as the team looked at him.

“How do you even know that red head?”

Shouyou narrowed his eyes a bit, “His name is Tendou Satori, and he is my best friend, we have been friends since elementary school.”

“So, he is the senpai you mentioned before,” Tsukishima said, reminding the team that Shouyou had mentioned him before.

“Yes.”

“What did Ushijima mean by his statement?” Tanaka questioned. “It sounded like he was insulting us, but you didn’t seem mad about it.”

_ “So long as his team doesn’t hold him back then I expect this to be a good match.” _

“Ushijima thinks that I should have gone to a better school then Karasuno.”

That earned surprised looks from his fellow classmates.

“Why are you at Karasuno?” Narita asked.

“If you’re such good friends with Tendou, then why did you not go to Shiratorizawa?” Kinoshita added.

“Well, Shiratorizawa’s coach is all about power and height. Because of my short stature he would not have let me play. Satori had told me all about this so I decided to come here since this is where the little giant went.”

Coach Ukai, who had been listening to the conversation nodded, “Washijo is very old fashioned, prefering to have a singular weapon with the rest of the team supporting the weapon. We on the other hand have a bunch of weapons. This is why out of all the members on Shiratorizawa is the most well known. But, all of the players on Shiratorizawa are high level.”

With that the afternoon practice ended and each of them headed home.

The next day in between classes Shouyou saw Shimizu in the hallway. She was attracting a lot of attention as the other first years saw her and commented on how pretty she was. “Shimizu-Senpai? What are you doing here?” Shouyou questioned.

“Eh Hinata knows a pretty 3rd year girl?” One of the boys commented.

Another boy, one from his elementary year scoffed, “The monster’s probably forcing her or something.”

“Monster? The kid is too short to ever be threatening, why do you insist on calling him that?”

“Say, Hinata, um… do you know of any 1st years who aren't in any clubs?”

“No, not off the top of my head, but I’ll keep an eye out for you Senpai,” he replied smiling at her.

She offered a nod and then walked off, continuing to ask people if they were in a club or not.

Later that afternoon after the practice had just ended, everyone was gathered around Takeda-sensei as he called them over, “Ahem, I’ll give you our upcoming schedule for the time being. Once it’s set in stone, I’ll hand out written copies,” The teacher started, seeing a bit subdued from his normal chipper self. 

“Doesn’t Take-chan seem kinda down and out?” Tanaka questioned in a whisper, and if the second year was noticing it then it must really be obvious.

“Does he?” Noya whispered back.

“First off, the weekend after next. We’ll be having a practice match with Hinoyama High school, from our prefecture. And… regarding the previously mentioned excursion to Tokyo, their Interhigh preliminaries start this weekend, as I said yesterday. Ours in Miyuagin took place over 3 consecutive days, but theirs spans 3 weeks with matches held on sundays. As a result, the joint practices will take place after their preliminaries. We need to have your parents permission for you to go on the trip, so I’ll hand out the paperword for that later, as well. The school’s consent is also,  _ in essence, _ no problem,” Takeda paused briefly, pushing his glasses up, “However… As there are plenty of teams in our prefecture who are at or above out level, in trying to travel outside the prefecture we’ll be in competition with them. It’s a good opportunity, after all.”

The team looked at him, wondering where the teacher was going with his speech.

“That being said, I assume you already know… that you have final exams next month?”

Tanaka, Noya, and Kageyama all went pale, and for once Shouyou was thankful his father wanted him to get better grades. He now actually stood a chance of passing so long as he kept his studying growing.

“You know that right?”

Noya, Tanaka and Kageyama glanced off to the side, not daring to meet Takeda’s eyes. Takeda sighed, “It seems that Tokyou’s test period is basically the same as ours, so that means the join practice session will take place right after. As you might expect, there are supplementary lessons to attend for any subjects you fail.

Sjoyou gazed worriedly at Kageyama, who had all color drained from him. Tanaka and Noya got up trying to run away from the devastating news Takeda had just delivered the three boys.

“Ennoshita catch them!” Daichi shouted.

Ennoshita caught them and the other club members commented how they didn’t have failing grades, making Noya, Tanaka, and Kageyama look even more pale. Shouyou decided to add to the fire, “I’m managing to get passing grades as well.”

That earned him gaping faces from the three boys, “Y..you?!” 

Shouyou just nodded.

Tanaka and Noya seemed to go still and held their hands together serene expressions on their faces as they seemed to be praying that they would pass “Hey, wait a second, you two! Quit it with those bodhisattva faces! Don’t give up, Dammit!”

“Kageyama’s not breathing.”

Tsukishima who stood next to him snickered, “This is pandemonium.”

“Yep,” Shouyou agreed, nodding.

“Don’t lose your heads!” Daichi shouted, calling the attention to them, “We still have time until the tests. Do you think Karasuno can show its full power without these three idiots?! No it definitely can’t!”

“That kinda makes me happy and sad at the same time.”

“I’m more sad that our kohai gets better grades than us and isn’t panicking with us.”

Ignoring Tanaka and Noya, Daichi continued, “We’re doing this… all of us… are going to Tokyo!”

“His eyes glazed over!” Suga hissed, his eyes wide in shock

“That’s scary!” Asahi hissed back, sweat-dropping.

With that the team went to the changing room and changed, Daichi holding Kageyama, Tanaka, and Noya back. So Shouyou walked out with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, walking his bike besides them.

“It’s a real surprise that Kageyama can’t study well, I mean, he seems pretty sharp.”

“Probably because he’s only got volleyball on the brain.”

“No offense Hinata, but I’m kinda surprised that you're not in the idiot squad.”

Shouyou just smiled as he shrugged, “Ah, my father threatened to ban me from the volleyball club if I don’t get my grades up, so I’m already having to study really hard.”

Soon it came to where each of them went their separate ways and Shouyou hopped on his bike, riding out to his house and texting Oikawa and Satori if the two were available this weekend for studying. Satori said he could come over sunday, and Oikawa said he was still good for their normal weekend routine.

Then he went to sleep.

When he woke up he looked at his phone glaring as it said 4am, wednesday. He had woken up a couple hours too early. Sighing, he looked through his texts.

From Kuroo he received the following message.

[ _ Just got word from the coach that you guys are coming to the joint practice camp, I can’t wait for you to come here.] _

_ [I have a friend I want to introduce to you, I bet you two would get along really well!] _

_ [Also Kenma only ever seems to get excited for matches against your school, how did you manage that?!] _

[Sounds awesome, I’m always up for meeting new people. I don’t know.]

He also received a message from Kenma, a simple one saying that he looked forward to the match. He replied with me too. Sighing, he got up and cooked breakfast, remembering to make it a healthy one.

Later that day he found Shimizu in the hall and handed her the few applications he had managed to get. Finally it was time for afternoon club practice. “Hinata! Tsukishima!” Coach called them over. “Since you guys are middle blockers, blockings gotta be one of your weapons. Both of you are good at two different types of blocking, guess blocking and read blocking. Meaning you don’t use commit blocking much, which is fine, but I’ve noticed that powerful hits usually get past you from sheer strength. So I’m going to work on having you guys become the sort of blockers who can stop even Shiratorizawa’s Ushijima.”

Tsukishima scoffed.

“Well… I can get a one touch on some of his spikes. I think they nearly broke my fingers though…” Shouyou stated, rubbing his fingers, remembering how sore they had been after the practice.

Tsukishima and the Coach gave him a flat look, “You didn’t mention you practiced with him.”

“Ah, yeah, Satori convinced him the first time, and then the second time Satori secretly invited us to set up a 2v2 match. Ushijima wasn’t using all his strength though.”

“Alright well, let’s get to work, shall we?” The coach said, giving a savage grin as a couple members of the Karasuno association volleyball club came in. “You two will be blocking as many spikes from these guys as possible.”

“Noya! You will be working on your block receives, so go onto the association side and keep those blocks in play. Kageyama work on those jump serves of yours! Tanaka and Asahi, you will be strengthening your hits so you can spike the ball harder. Daichi, you will be working on your spikes. Yamaguchi, your jump float serves. Sugawara, setting from unusual positions. Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita, receives and stamina endurance!” The coach called out to all of them, assigning each of their practices.

As team practice came to an end everyone was worn out and exhausted, but they still had an hour for individual practice. Shouyou went over Suga, “Can you please help me with setting?”

“Of course,” Suga said, giving a pleasant grin.

With that Shouyou got to work on learning how to actually set the ball to somebody. “Hey guys, we’re having a team study session at Tanaka’s house friday if anybody wants to join in.” Narita told them as he walked over to them.

Extra studying was never a bad thing, he should probably go to make sure he passed his stuff, he couldn’t slack off. “I’ll be there, may I have the address?”

Narita nodded and typed it up. Finally though individual practice was over and the boys went home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: I haven’t really had time to work on this lately. Unfortunately my focus has shifted away from this for the moment, so expect it to be a few months or longer before I continue this.
> 
> Word Count: 2317
> 
> Date Written: 3/23/20 3/28/20
> 
> Date Posted: 4/4/20


End file.
